Tag: 4th Test

Rishabh Pant ‘more than ready’ to fill void created post Dhoni’s retirement, feels Rohit Sharma | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: India opener Rohit Sharma feels wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant is “more than ready” to fill the void created after former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni‘s retirement.
Considered one of the greatest finishers in modern-day cricket, Dhoni was also the master tactician behind the stumps and after Pant’s heroics on the second day of the fourth Test, Rohit feels Pant is ready to follow the footsteps of the former captain.
The swashbuckling wicket-keeper batsman single-handedly put India in command on the second day of the fourth Test against England with his third century in Test cricket.

On being asked if Pant was ready to fill the void created by Dhoni’s retirement, Rohit in the virtual press conference replied,” He seems to be doing a job for us, so he’s more than ready I guess!”
Having started cautiously, Pant took the English bowlers to the cleaners in the final session to take the game away from the visitors and put the hosts in the driver’s seat.

Rohit defended Pant’s approach in Test cricket saying that the wicket-keeper batsman has his own style of batting and one must back him. The opening batsman also revealed the team has given the license to Pant to play his natural game.
“Pant has his own style of batting. Of course, there have been messages from the team management on how he needs to approach the game but you know he seems to be batting in his own style which seems to be fine,” said Rohit on Friday.

“He is getting the job done and that’s more important for us and you saw in this innings as well. The first half of his innings he was quite respectful and then once we got to 200 he just wanted to take on the bowlers,” he further said.
“You need those kinds of players in your team who are not afraid to take on the bowlers and who are ready to grab the chances with both hands. You should have a mix of players in your squad,” Rohit added.

With wickets tumbling around him, Pant took 82 balls to reach his first fifty runs. But the next 50 came off just 33 balls as he decided to send the English bowlers on a leather hunt.
Rohit explained how Pant’s style of hitting has put India on top after being four down with 80 runs on board in the morning.
“Pant is courageous enough to take chances. There will be times when he will play shots and get out but I don’t want anyone to get upset. As he is the kind of player who will play like that and get the job done for the team. Like today we were on backfoot and suddenly within a span of one hour we were in the drivers’ seat,” said Rohit.
“You need players like Pant and management completely understands this and we are ready to take those chances with him and he has been given that freedom to go on and express himself,” he added.

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England batsmen are frankly not good enough in Indian conditions: Andrew Strauss | Cricket News – Times of India

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LONDON: Former captain Andrew Strauss believes England batsmen are just not good enough to tackle the spin-friendly Indian conditions after yet another flop show by the visitors in the first innings of the ongoing fourth Test in Ahmedabad.
England’s batsmen on Thursday produced a shoddy performance to surrender the momentum to India with Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin calling the shots on the opening day of the Test here.

After five innings, England crossed the 200-run mark when the managed a total of 205 in 75.5 overs before being bowled out.
“Let’s not hide away from the truth. England’s batting quite frankly is not good enough in these conditions,” Strauss was quoted as saying by ‘Channel 4’.
“You can talk about the pitch and about the ball and about anything else, but you have to find a way to score first innings runs and they have got very few to play with.”
The 44-year-old Strauss, a former left-handed opener, feels England batsmen are losing the battle in their minds as they have been committing the same mistakes which they did in the previous two Test matches.
“It is scarcely believable,” he said.
“England are making the same mistakes they have made throughout the whole series. The non-turning ball has left them non-pulsed.”
England are trailing the four-match series 1-2.

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India vs England: Hardest series as batsman but Stokes ‘frustrated’ at throwing it away | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: Ben Stokes couldn’t hide his “disappointment” at frittering away a good start as he had defended well for almost two and half hours during the “hardest conditions” that he has ever batted in his 70-odd Test matches.
Stokes scored 55 off 121 balls before a skidder from Washington Sundar trapped him leg before on the opening day of the final Test against India.
“I am more disappointed that I actually get myself in and get out. Fifty is not really a (score) that will win you a Test match,” Stokes told after day’s play.

“I was very disappointed to get on that wicket, start feeling comfortable and then get out in the way I did especially because I spent two and a half hours protecting myself from the ball that skids on and getting out to the ball that skids on. So, I was very frustrated with myself,” the all-rounder said.
The “frustration”is knowing which was the danger delivery and still getting out.

“Very frustrated. After spending two and half hours, you know, playing so well, trying to avoid getting out to a straight ball and I ended up getting out to (it), that is frustrating,” said the 29-year-old Christchurch-born left-handed batsman.”
Stokes was also disappointed with the team’s overall batting performance.
“I think we are disappointed with the batting. I think we are more than capable of scoring, so yeah frustrating but it was nice to get a wicket at the end of the day,” added he said referring to Shubman Gill‘s dismissal.

Stokes had no hesitation in admitting that these are the “hardest conditions” to bat on.
“Yeah, I have played 70 odd games now and I have told others in the team that this is the hardest conditions I have ever faced as a batsman and I have played all around the world.
“It is a case of finding it your own way. It is not about coming together as a group and saying this is what we need to do next. It is about how we can go away as individuals and when we come back here next time, have we progressed as an individual and a group of batsmen, because everyone plays in a different way.”

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In Pics: Axar Patel, R Ashwin spin England out for 205 in fourth Test

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Indian spinners Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin took seven wickets between them as England were dismissed for 205 on the first day of the fourth and final Test on Thursday. (BCCI Photo)

Ravichandran Ashwin has made Stokes his bunny having dismissed the left-hander many times, and Stokes said that the India off-spinner was a fantastic bowler but refused to read too much into it.
“You come to India, you are going to face a lot of Ashwin. So he has got more chances of getting me out, but I don’t read into the fact that he has got me out that many times.

“It is what it is, someone is there to get you out and that is probably what I have got on that matter. He (Ashwin) is a fantastic bowler, obviously, but it is his job to get batsmen out,” he said to a query by PTI. There was a lot of debate surrounding the pitch that was used in the third test played here, which ended in two days, but according to Stokes the wicket for the current Test was much better than the previous game.
“Overall, it is a much better wicket than it was the last game played here, so yeah, we are just disappointed,” he noted.
India need to either draw or win the match to find a place in the World Test Championships final in June, while a win for England would revive some of the lost confidence after the thrashing inside two days in the third Test. The hosts are 2-1 up in the four-match series.

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Everyone trained, all available for selection: Root downplays illness in England camp | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: England skipper Joe Root on Wednesday revealed that an illness hit the touring party earlier this week but all members of the squad trained ahead of the fourth Test against India here and are available for selection.
The English captain did not specify the nature of the illness but said he has a full squad to choose from.
“…the guys are fit and available for the game tomorrow. That gives us a little more time to name the squad,” Root said in the pre-match press conference.

“So, everyone in that way is as prepared as they would have liked it for the Test match,” he added.
Root said assistant coach Paul Collingwood was one of two members worse affected by the sickness.
India lead the four-match series 2-1 with the final Test slated to begin here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday.

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