Scoreboard and stats I Mike Atherton's analysis I Tendulkar: a worthy winner I Pietersen lets inexperience show

Not for the first time, Kevin Pietersen has been found guilty of over-confidence. His declaration on Sunday, which seemed a sound enough move at the time, was shown within 24 hours to be a foolhardy gamble. He now admits that he would have liked a lead of 400 but frankly, given the scale of this tactical disaster, that would not have changed much.

India won at a canter and just to make things worse that nice man Mr Yuvraj was there at the end to tell KP how sweet the result tasted.

Pietersen is not yet a good enough captain to know just how big a cock- up he made of things. Monty Panesar will take the blame for what happened after finishing wicketless in 27 overs - the spinners always take the blame when a big fourth-innings chase is achieved - but Pietersen failed to give him the fields needed to help build pressure.

In 55 overs, Panesar and Graeme Swann - the two slow bowlers who had to play a major role if England were to win - delivered just six maidens. Virender Sehwag's blitzkreig had made India's chase so much easier to pace; it meant they could just milk the bowling thereafter.

And with Pietersen's help they did. He must have still been shellshocked.

He also allowed (or instructed) Panesar to bowl almost exclusively over the wicket at the right-handers, which is a curious way to try to get them out. This was only one of many English tactics that raised eyebrows. In essence, watching Pietersen running things in the field was to listen to the sound of stable doors being closed behind bolting horses.

In making his declaration, Pietersen underestimated India's talent and audacity every bit as much as Andrew Flintoff did Australia's in Adelaide two winters ago, when he similarly thought he had enough runs to be safe. He also underestimated the mental flakiness of many of his bowlers. Panesar and Swann squandered one of the best chances they will ever get to bowl England to victory.

In mitigation, Pietersen was captaining his first Test overseas. He deserved the support and advice of a backroom staff that should have known better. If Pietersen was committing errors during a seven-hour innings, why did Peter Moores or Andy Flower not intervene? Maybe they did, but the messages were not acted upon.

Pietersen described the defeat as a bitter pill to swallow, and it is one that will hurt his pride badly. This was a horrible match for him personally, save for winning an important toss, and so far it has been a horrible winter. Of the matches that matter, he has now lost seven out of seven. (He ended the summer with five wins out of five; Pietersen's England don't do things by halves).

Before this Test, everyone was just glad there was a game of cricket to be played. Now that it is over, and has been lost in such naive fashion, a few people may need reminding that this was only a game and both teams deserved credit simply for turning up. Pietersen in particular went through a great deal emotionally in the drawn-out debate about whether the team should return.

Pietersen defended Panesar afterwards, saying that the team win games together and lose them together, but Panesar will have to live with this failure for a long time, especially as it is his second fourth- innings fiasco in three matches. His name will attach to Chennai 2008 just as surely as did Jim Laker's to Headingley '48 when Bradman's Australians chased down 404.

England must now make changes for the second Test. Provided Stuart Broad is fit - and he was bowling heartily enough on the outfield here - he must come in for Panesar, while Ian Bell should make way for Owais Shah. The situation demands men of grit and character. There is no room for faint-hearts.

And Pietersen himself must change. He is suffering from a cracked rib, which may explain the timidity of his batting here, but he needs to get back his swagger. When he took on the captaincy, there were fears that tactically he would not be upto the job and that the responsibility would affect his batting. Right now, those fears look justified.