‘It shows they have great self-belief..’ – Former English skipper’s advice to Indian team after loss in Hyderabad Test
Source: X
The Indian team lost the first Test of the five-match Test series against England by 28 runs on Sunday. According to former captain and ace commentator Nasser Hussain, India’s Test loss in Hyderabad should serve as a wake-up call for Rohit Sharma & Co.
After a lead of 1o0 runs in the first innings, the Indian team never lost any Test matches at home. India fell short by 28 runs, despite a huge first-innings lead. Ollie Pope played that role for England, and probably played one of the greatest innings of his career, scoring 196 runs full of sweeps, reverse sweeps and reverse Dil-scoops, messing up with the lengths of the Indian spinners as if they were match predictions after two days of cricket.
I had to keep a cool head – Tom Hartley
The other hero was left-arm spinner Tom Hartley, the debutant who was hit for two sixes in his first over in Test cricket and conceded one of the costliest spells for a debutant, who ended up with seven-for in the second innings.
“India will probably rue their first innings. They got 436 but actually, they could have got a lot more if not for some sloppy dismissals. They will come back. They are a very fine side and history tells you it will be tough for England,” Nasser Hussain wrote in his column for ‘Sky Sports’.
“But it is a wake-up call for India as England have shown Bazball can work in these conditions,” Hussain said, referring to England’s ultra-aggressive approach under head coach Brendon McCullum.
Jasprit Burmah got the wicket of Ollie Pope and England’s second innings ended on 420. The Indian batters failed to put up a fight in the fourth innings, chasing 231 runs for victory.
“It shows they (England) have great self-belief. They have great belief in the way they are playing the game and do things their own way. They don’t worry about outside noise, that other people would have selected other cricketers, that people thought they should have had warm-up matches.
“What I like about them is their stubbornness. If you doubt them, they’ll double down on it and go even more stubborn. I think that is a good thing because if you’re constantly listening to all the noise, all that’s written and said, you flicker from one theory to another,” Hussain wrote in his column.
The second Test of the five-match Test series will start on February 2, in Visakhapatnam.
