Virat has crystal clear mind, Ashwin star for future, feel Ian Botham and Nasser Hussain

Former England cricketers Ian Botham and Nasser Hussain were mighty pleased with the way England played in the first match. England came very close to winning the Rajkot Test. With their batsmen applying themselves well and the spinners outperforming Indian spinners, England looks like a strong side now. They came in to the series as underdogs but have put a case for themselves now. Speaking to Boria Majumdar in an interview with India Today, the former cricketers spoke at length about the various prospects of the series.

The critics had predicted India to steamroll the England team. The performance that they came up with was very surprising. Sir Ian Botham mentioned that he was surprised at the way things worked in the advantage of England. “Yeah and that pretty worked in the advantage of England. I actually think England performed very well in the Test. I think in most departments they outplayed India and nobody expected that apart from some die-hard England supporters and few commentators ‘hoping’,” he said.

He further mentioned why the performance has been a stand out one. Given the form India was in, England’s chances were bleak. “On current form in India, India have been almost unstoppable. The pitch I thought was a very good cricket pitch and as we saw it almost turned out a result but normally when you see 500 play 480 play 260 for three and the suddenly six wickets fall down and it could have been  a very very close game,” added Ian Botham.

When asked about the reason for their failure in Bangladesh, former skipper Nasser Hussain cited that Bangladesh is a strong side at home. He also added the tour was kind of a blessing in disguise for the English side. It served as a proper preparation for spin friendly tracks on the India tour. Although it looked bad back then, now the hard work in Bangladesh seems to be paying off.

Also read – Vizag curator reveals nature of pitch for second India v England Test

“I mean first of all Bangladesh are a good side at home. You look at their record at home and they have beaten some top nations there. They have beaten some very good sides there and they were extreme conditions and it almost did England a favour. Almost like if you’re going to face a quick bowler, you set the bowling machine at 100 mile an hour and when you’re going out in the middle, it feels that much easier,” he remarked.

“So, I think in a funny way although it didn’t do them any favours and obviously they lost that last Test match and at the time they probably didn’t think that but in a funny sort of way it did England a lot of good to have those extreme conditions and also you got to remember that England have a very good record against India in the last three series. You look at the key match-offs like Cook against Ashwin etc..they win some of those battles. It’s obviously one Test and here is Vizag everyone thinks it’s going to spin,” he added further.

Team India drafted opener KL Rahul in the side. However, Nasser Hussain believes that Gautam Gambhir might get another chance. But since India have brought in Rahul from the middle of a Ranji game, that indicates his chances of playing ahead of Gambhir.

“I think it’s good and the Indian selectors are being pro-active really. They could have said I would give Gautam Gambhir..am presuming he’s going to play, if they’re going to call him up and pull him out off a Ranji Trophy game, like they have, what’s the point if he’s going to carry the drinks? So, I think Anil Kumble has said that he wants his injured players to go off play Ranji Trophy before they are selected again, which I is the right thing to do. He has got some runs, I think England have the measure of Gautam Gambhir and I think they fancy bowling at him and I think KL Rahul’s form before he got injured was very good. So, it will strengthen the Indian side. I think it’s the right thing to do by the selectors,” mentioned Hussain.

Also read – England bowled well but didn’t outperform Indian spinners: Virat Kohli

When England last toured India in 2012, they had Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar running all over the Indian batsmen. This time around, England came in with 3 inexperienced spinners – Adil Rashid, Zafar Ansari and Moeen Ali. Gareth Batty is also there but is yet to play. However, the inexperienced trio certainly outperformed the Indian trio of Jadeja, Ashwin and Mishra.

Ian Botham was pleasantly surprised with this. Adil Rashid, in particular, caught his attention and Sir Botham was in all praise for the leggie. “Yeah! In particularly Adil Rashid. It’s the most confident I’ve seen him in an England shirt. He came out and he is a different bowler to what we used to see. There’s a bounce to all his movements, his head was up high, he wanted to bowl and I don’t think he likes to bowl when the bowl is really new, so he is quite happy to wait till the ball is like 20 overs or something like that but when he came on in this game, he was in control, he turned the ball and you’re absolutely right, he did out-bowl,” pointed out Botham.

Botham went on to mention that Rashid’s performance was the biggest bonus for the team early on in the tour. “I think, he was the pick of the spinners in this first Test and that’s a massive bonus for England and a massive bonus for Adil Rashid because now his confidence is sky high and now if we do get a turning pitch here, he could be as big a handful as anybody in the match again,” he added.

Virat Kohli mentioned clearly after the match that India learnt the art of drawing games. Nasser Hussain could not agree more to this. He conceded that the way India managed to get a draw despite giving 537 runs in the first innings is commendable.

Also read – Fit again KL Rahul added to India squad for 2nd Test against England

“I don’t think India will have any scarring, their record at home is exceptional. Especially off late under Kohli and I thought you’re going to remember his reasonably important toss in the the last game as well and to get a draw after conceding 540 in the first innings and you got to learn to draw as well,” he quoted.

Ian Botham was not quite surprised with the way English batsmen dealt with Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin was expected to be all over England but could manage just 3 wickets across both the innings. Asked it they were surprised with this treatment to Ashwin, Ian Botham quoted, “No actually. I was not because I actually thought like Nass had thought that after Dhaka and in Bangladesh, playing in those pitches, I think England can only get better and they would be happier team playing on better surfaces. In Boxing terms, you put it down as a winning draw for England. You say, on points they were ahead for the first game.”

Answering further if India will be scarred coming in to the Vizag Test, Botham mentioned that it will instead sharpen up India in the context of the series. “No! I don’t think it’s going to scar India, I think it’s going to sharpen up India. I think India is going to come at us harder and I think it’s going to be an exciting Test series. I really do because this England side can play,” he added.

Botham also said that he believes Ashwin will bounce back in the series. He was in all praise for Ashwin who is slowly turning into a genuine all-rounder. “I’ve not doubt that he will come back. He is a proud man, he is a clever man. He’s an intelligent man and he will work it out for himself, I have no doubt.What has impressed me the most is his batting. With the bowling we have all known about it  for a long time, we know he can bowl, he has been doing a bit…to push him upto no. 6 and he has responded really well and that gives the team more options,” said Ian Botham.

Also read – Credit to England for applying in the second innings: Virat Kohli

“Batting or bowling, depending upon the conditions, when you have a genuine all-rounder, he has become a genuine all-rounder, he has what? four hundreds? Batting at six, he has played well and he has probably played the England bowlers as well as anybody including Virat, as good as anybody in that first Test. He has played well, stood there, stood tall, he used his height and I was very impressed,” he added.

India were down and out in the 2nd innings of Rajkot Test in the final session. It was a calm head skipper Virat Kohli who played an unbeaten 49 to ensure a draw. Nasser Hussain looked particularly pleased with the young Indian skipper. Talking about his innings, Hussain quoted “Yeah! That shows how crystal clear his mind is. When the ball bounces over his shoulder for a spinner and he is calling is that one bouncer for the over? He shows that his mind isn’t scrambled, he is always thinking. It didn’t surprise me in the second innings because he is an absolute street-fighter, this bloke, he really is and that’s why he is so brilliant in run-chases for India, I mean he sees that target and he’s like over my dead body, am going to get that target and it was the same the other day, he was like over my dead body you’re going to win this Test match.”

Nasser Hussain mentioned that his captaincy was scratchy at times. But his batting was brilliant. He was only unlucky to be dismissed in the first innings, Hussain felt.

“This bloke, at times his captaincy having lost the toss, he could have worked on in certain areas with his captaincy, like at times he had spread the field back when a new batsman came in and he should have attacked but as far as his batting goes, I mean he was unlucky in the first innings, if you really think about it, England didn’t get him out in the Test match, he got himself out by jumping onto the stumps. So, it’s a good sign for India that Kohli who hasn’t got a good record against England with the bat, played really well in that Test match,” he quoted.

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Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly also joined in the discussion. Ganguly firmly believes that Kohli is enjoying his captaincy. “I think, it also shows his presence of mind. He hasn’t lost the fun bit despite of being under pressure and also shows the very clear mind of Virat Kohli as Nasser Hussain said on air and very rightly, it just shows the clarity of his thoughts and he is ready to take one ball at a time and play on it’s merit and that’s why he is such a class act. So it’s good fun to watch and great to see and for all athletes, there is still a bit of fun in sports despite of all the pressure, ” quoted Ganguly.

He further spoke about the opening dilemma that India is facing. Ganguly reckons that KL Rahul will get a go. He, however, added that to have Gambhir in the squad, the team needs to back him at times when he is struggling. “Even if Gautam Gambhir gets a fifty or some runs, KL Rahul will always be the first choice. But, I think the system has to work for everyone the same. Just like Rohit Sharma got so many opportunities despite failing, we kept bringing him up and kept giving him confidence that we need you to perform,” he said.

“I think the rule should be the same for everyone, yes, Gautam Gambhir struggled a bit in this Test, got a good delivery from Chris Woakes in the second innings, it bounced a bit and went to the third slip. Now if you want Gautam Gambhir in the side, you have to give him confidence. I heard what Boria said and I feel it’s not the right to deal with an individual, that you put a sword on his neck all the time. You cannot pick someone to play one Test at a time and that’s not fair on him and I think that’s what Gautam Gambhir is suffering from. He looks someone as under pressure,” Ganguly added further.