England coach Trevor Bayliss stated after the drawn First Test in Rajkot that he was expecting to name an unchanged team for this match in Visakhapatnam, with the Australian keen to hold back Anderson, who has not played for three months, for the Third Test at Mohali. We know what we’ve got coming up in the next three games as well – but the way the lads played was outstanding.
“He had an injury in Kanpur, and then he was not available for any of the Test matches against New Zealand, or in the one-dayers”, said Kumble. Mishra revealed that early wickets were key to India’s success. As wickets tumbled from one end, Kohli as usual put a prize on his wicket and batted till the end. It was a slow wicket.
“I am confident we will score the runs and confident we can bowl well enough to put India under pressure if we hit the same standards”. The most recent worldwide match in this venue was less than three weeks ago, when Amit Mishra scalped 5 for 18 against hapless Kiwis.
Though Indian batsmen looked steady, England bowlers have been successful in picking up Indian wickets in regular intervals. I don’t think you can blame anyone for that.
The incident took place in the 41 over, when left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari’s delivery took off and went over his shoulder. Especially while bowling on this wicket at Rajkot, he asked me not to experiment too much and stick to my line and length. Led by skipper Alastair Cook, their batting looks solid with the likes of Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali having come up with impressive scores, centuries included.
Kohli and Jadeja remained unbeaten on 49 and 32.
“Everyone is telling us it will turn more and more and the toss is important but if we lose the toss it’s another challenge to overcome”, Cook said. Our batsmen were in form and had runs under their belt. It was great batting from Kohli. At such a time, the bowlers tend to get on the back foot.
I don’t see why they haven’t got one anyway. Now he has recovered and as a protocol, he played a Ranji Trophy game. “It was a big positive for me”, he added. The classy batsman scored 76 in the first innings and followed it up with an eye-catching 106 in 131 balls against Rajasthan, earning a recall to the India squad.
Kohli would have hoped for more assistance for his spinners from the pitch at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, making its debut as a test centre, given England’s recent struggles on turning tracks in Bangladesh.