VISAKHAPATNAM: A loss can wake a team up. England may have been comprehensively beaten in the second Test here, but with three games remaining, rest assured they will not give up. England were on top in the first Test, while India had it easy in the second.
In Rajkot, captain Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes scored centuries, while in the second Test, partnerships between Cook and Haseeb Hameed, and Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow showed that their batsmen definitely have it in them.
The Indian bowlers, particularly spinners, were good, something Cook admitted. He will surely be expecting more in the third game in Mohali, but the opener is confident in his team’s batting. The interesting thing is that even Nos 8 and 9, the spinners Adil Rashid and Zafar Ansari, respectively, can contribute useful runs. “We decided clearly from the start of the (second) innings that we wanted to take it as deep as possible,” Cook said after the match.“We saw in one game, South Africa played 140-odd overs (Delhi, 2015). If we played 150-odd overs, we could have saved the game. Often, in those circumstances, you say 'I'll just play and see where we end up’. So we made a conscious effort to go that way. Everyone bought into it,” he added.
England may be confident, but it is not going to be easy, as Bairstow had found out. “The accuracy that Ashwin bowls with is a challenge. Every top off-spinner has accuracy, and that’s their main asset. That, with his pace variation, is going to be a challenge,” the wicketkeeper had said.
Seamer Stuart Broad may have to sit out of Mohali due to injury. While that might help India a bit, they still have James Anderson and Chris Woakes to handle. Plus, spinners Rashid and Moeen, along with Ansari, could give the hosts a hard time.
However, Indian skipper Virat Kohli is not thinking of the turnaround England had the last time they toured. “We know they've the ability, but we're not thinking about the past, as we're aren't like that,” he said.
“You're already not in the game as soon as you start thinking like that. We believe in our abilities more than analysing opposition. It's been our strength over the last 12-14 months, and we'll continue to do that. The draw in Rajkot shows this team's character, and the fact that we don’t focus on too many things from the outside. The focus has been on strengthening our qualities, and undertsanding things that we need to work on,” he added.
There are so many factors that come into play here. Both sides are tough,and while India may still look to home advantage, things will not be clear till the match begins.
(vivekphadnis@newindianexpress.com)