Monty Panesar pleased with performance of Renshaw and O'Keefe

Prior to the start of the series against India, former England spinner Monty Panesar was a consultant for his domestic side teammates Steve O’Keefe and Matt Renshaw. The duo performed exceedingly well in the first Test match in Pune, something that saw them secure a massive 333-run win and get the series off to what is seemingly a flier.

While Renshaw helped himself to an impressive half-century in the first innings, it was Steve O’Keefe who was the talk of the town as he helped himself to 12 wickets in the match and conceded just the 70 runs as well. Panesar, who was part of the last touring party that won in India in 2012 said that his wards had shown incredible temperament to adapt to Indian pitches so quickly. He also went on to add that he would have liked to get involved for more than just the two days despite the presence of Sridharan Sriram in the side.

Panesar, who is playing grade cricket in Sydney, said, “I feel both of them have done really well, they showed good temperament and skill to adapt on Indian pitches.” Panesar’s consultancy stint was only for two days.

“I would like to get involved for more than 2 days since I feel coaching is about getting to know the players and giving your time to understand them as people. Had the consultancy been a little longer, it would have been more of a benefit and they did consider but they already had Sriram in place. I was grateful for the opportunity,” he said.

The tour now moves to Bangalore, the venue for the second Test match to begin on the 4th of March.

Aslo read – Will have to see O’Keefe bowl in different conditions: Harbhajan Singh