Team India missed someone like Virender Sehwag at the top: Venkatesh Prasad

The Indian team lost the first Test match to England in Birmingham but it wasn’t as bad a game for few individuals. Skipper Virat Kohli and ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who were both under pressure coming into the series produced their best performance on English soil. So did Ishant Sharma, the pacer needed some time to get used to the conditions but was extremely lethal in the second innings. Former Indian fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad wants to look at the positives that have come out of the game as well.

Kohli had a whole lot of questions about being good enough to deal with the English pace attack in conditions conducive to seam bowling around him. He replied by scoring 200 runs in the match. While Ashwin has been under constant scrutiny on overseas tours as he wasn’t as effective in the past. The off-spinner picked 7 wickets in the Test. As for Ishant, the pacer despite being the most experienced among the current lot in the country hasn’t quite managed to reflect that with the wickets tally. Ishant produced a five-wicket haul that broke the backbone of the English batting.

Kohli, Ashwin and Ishant positives for India

“Despite the defeat, Kohli’s form and the bowling of R. Ashwin and Ishant Sharma augured well for India. The team needs to keep the belief,” Prasad was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Missed someone like Sehwag

The Indian team was chasing 194 in the fourth innings but they failed to get there. Stuart Broad who had an ordinary first innings sent back both Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan pretty early in the chase. That never let India get in control of the chase and were always catching up.

Prasad felt that the team missed someone like Virender Sehwag who can be imposing with his batting by taking the attack back on the opposition.

“Particularly when you chase a low total below 200 as at Birmingham, a Sehwag sizzler can make all the difference. He can get the field to spread out which can make things easier for the other batsmen too, In the present Indian team, too much hinges on Virat Kohli. The others should contribute too. They need to get their footwork worked out to counter the swing and seam movement in England,” he added.

The bowling side tends to go into a panic mode and switch from wicket-taking strategy to a defensive one if the opposition scores thick runs.

“While Kohli held firm in the Indian second innings at Birmingham, India should have attacked the bowling from other end. While defending low scores, if runs come quickly, the bowling side can panic,” Prasad stated.

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