The tall Jonathan Trott is one of the key members of the England team. He bats at the crucial number three spot. Ever since he made his debut in 2009, that too in a big way scoring a century, Trott has been a vital cog with the bat. Sound in technique and temperament, Trott has served England with distinction. But he is now on an important tour where he has to prove his mettle. The conditions are different and challenging.
Obviously, playing against top class spinners is altogether a different cup of tea. Trott failed miserably in the first Test at Ahmedabad, So did England, excepting for skipper Alistair Cook. But Cook’s masterly century in the second innings, according to Trott, has made them believe that they can do well and fight back in second Test here.
“It’s always a fantastic opportunity to come and play cricket in India. Obviously we got caught out in the first innings and didn’t play well. We played better in the second innings and showed that we can post big totals.
We could have done so in the first innings as well, but it wasn’t so. But a great challenge lies ahead. It was never going to be easy. We have got some hard work ahead of us,” said Trott.
Trott said Cook and Prior showed them to play spin and overcome the challenges. “ We just have to produce the stuff on the field. That is sport and the nature of it. We are looking forward to Friday and playing in Mumbai, the heartbeat of India’s cricket and it’s a fantastic opportunity to get to 1-1.”
England are eager to come back strongly in this Test. “Yes, you don’t want a gap of eight to 10 days mulling over the game. You want to get on the field and get back in the middle batting and crack on. Travelling to Kolkata with the scoreline reading 1-1 will be great, but it’ll be a great challenge. We’ve overcome these challenges over the last couple of years, so I feel this is good to add to the collection.”
Trott said the English are ready to take the criticism from their foreign players. “You got to take it. Obviously they are very passionate and want England to do well, but you have to realize that no one is perfect. Sometimes players think that the game is not as good as it was. At the end of the day it’s still a game of cricket. We are not hiding from the fact that we didn’t get runs in the first innings and may be we let them get too many in their first innings.”