England’s loss to India in the second Test was their first after six consecutive wins in Asian conditions. The loss also pushed them to the fourth position in the World Test Championship points table, while India moved up to the second spot. Meanwhile, former England skipper Nasser Hussain has asked England to draw inspiration from their recent track record in Asian conditions heading into the third Test against India. The third Test will be a Pink-Ball encounter which will be the only second game in India.
Meanwhile, Talking to Sky Sports Nasser Hussain said that the vistors need to learn from how Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin batted on the turning track and how the Indian spinners bowled on the rank-turner in Chepauk.
“What they need to do is realise how good they have been away from home and learn from how Ravi(chandran) Ashwin and Rohit Sharma batted on it. I have never seen in the last five Tests an English finger spinner bowl as many full tosses as Jack Leach and Moeen Ali bowled in that first innings. Every other over, there was a full toss. I didn’t see any full tosses from (Axar) Patel or Ashwin, they had control and wicket-taking potential. That’s the area they need to work on. They were completely out-bowled by the Indian spinners,” said Hussain while speaking on Sky Sports.
Hussain further said that it was the pitch that made the Test match interesting throughout the four-days.
England Don’t Need To Go Into Siege Mentality: Nasser Hussain
“I just hope England actually don’t have that mentality of, ‘oh it’s the pitch, it’s the pitch, it was the toss, it is the umpiring, the DRS’. You can quickly go into siege mentality in India,” added Hussain.
Earlier former England cricketer David Lloyd criticised the Chennai pitch for the way it played out in the second Test. Apart from him, former England skipper Michael Vaughan opined on the uneven nature of the track as well.
“There wasn’t a surface. There isn’t one. They just put some stumps in. There is no surface. They’ve had months to prepare it. There is no preparation in it. I think it is just totally wrong. I lost interest after 20 minutes,” said Lloyd.
