Brendon McCullum admitted that England got the toss wrong at Edgbaston, opting to bowl first on a surface that did not develop as they had expected throughout the second Test, culminating in India securing a mammoth 336-run victory to level the series 1-1.
England have made no secret of their desire for pitches with good pace and carry that, crucially, do not deteriorate much over five days. Headingley was a case in point, with England inserting India upon winning the toss and then knocking off a target of 371 with relative ease on the final day.
Ben Stokes revealed on the eve of this Test that requests have been put in for pitches that "suit what we want to go for and how we want to play our cricket". He did cede, however, that there was a hint of uncertainty about how the Edgbaston pitch would play, with a warm, dry summer making preparations for ground staff that little bit trickier.
Nevertheless, England believed conditions underfoot were going to evolve a certain way and were found wanting. Given first go, India posted 587, and it was only Jamie Smith's unbeaten 184 and Harry Brook's 158 in a scorecard of six ducks that meant the visitors began their second innings just 180 in front.
Burned by the first Test, Shubman Gill, who made the most of his time at the crease with 269 and 161, set England 608 and then handed the ball to Akash Deep, who exploited a worn day-five surface to take 6 for 99.
McCullum, while aware England did not help themselves with bat or ball, acknowledged the first mistake was made at the toss.
"I think, as the game unfolded, we probably looked back on that toss and said 'did we miss an opportunity there', and it's probably fair," he said. "We didn't expect that the wicket would play quite as it did and hence we probably got it slightly wrong. But we did have them 200 for 5 and we weren't able to capitalise on that position and when you win the toss and bowl you're hoping to, well, you're not anticipating the opposition's going to score 580 and then, from that point, we're behind the game.
"It was only a brilliant partnership from Jamie Smith and Harry Brook which gave us any balance in the game throughout the five days. That's something we've got to look at. We're not rigid with our plans. It's just we thought this pitch might get better to bat on as we went through the five days but as we saw it didn't."
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McCullum went as far as to suggest the way the pitch was playing by the end was akin to those in India, with cracks emerging and creating uncertain bounce and extravagant movement off the seam that Akash Deep, in particular, was able to exploit.
With Jasprit Bumrah returning for the third Test at Lord's, which begins on Thursday, McCullum hoped a wiser performance would come off the back of this experience, perhaps aided by a friendlier surface for England's needs.
"I thought Akash Deep bowled outstandingly on that surface," McCullum said. "Obviously growing up playing on those types of wickets, he hit his length and was able to utilise the surface where he could.
"He was exceptional. Bumrah will more than likely come back in for the next one, so we've just got to make sure we're well planned and well prepared and ready for the next challenge. It will be quite different, I imagine, to this surface and that's probably a good thing for us.
"We ran second for five days. I thought India played exceptionally well. Shubman Gill was at an elite level and played brilliantly on this pitch. We weren't quite able to play how we wanted to on it and they thoroughly deserved to win."