Former England spinner Monty Panesar believes that England’s victory in the historic game in Hyderabad was significant. The Ben Stokes-led side got off to a great start on their tour of India by winning by 28 runs, which was surprising given how dominant the hosts have been in their conditions.
England came back in the Hyderabad Test after falling behind in the first two days, raising expectations that they may overcome India in their backyard. Despite having an inexperienced spin attack, which included a debutant and another who had only played one Test before the Hyderabad match.
Speaking to ANI, Monty Panesar feels that it was a huge victory for England that no one expected. He praised Ollie Pope’s innings as one of the best in a long time and claimed that Rohit Sharma was naive in his leadership during Pope’s batting in the second innings.
“It is a very big victory, no one even imagined this was even possible. Everyone thought that England would lose after a 190 deficit but Ollie Pope had a brilliant inning one of the best innings we have seen in a long time and Rohit Sharma was clueless, India needs to stop giving the freedom that the England players are getting,” Monty Panesar said.
Ollie Pope scored 196 runs in the 2nd innings, helping England overcome a first-innings deficit and set India a 231-run target to defend in Hyderabad. Tom Hartley got seven wickets for 62 runs in his debut Test match, unsettling India’s batting lineup.
England Would Still Play Without The Fear Of Failure – Monty Panesar
Monty Panesar has expressed his belief that India is currently lacking the intense intensity that Virat Kohli brings to the team and feels that England would be even more fearless in the next four games, making them a strong contender to win the series. If the Ben Stokes-led side manages to win the second Test in Vizag, they will have a massive advantage going forward.
“If Virat Kohli was playing he would have been in the faces of these England players and told them ‘Hey, do it again let’s see how good you are’. This is an England team who are not scared of losing, they don’t scare if they lose. In the next four games, they (England) would still play without the fear of failure,”
“Virat Kohli has that presence and intensity, which is missing currently in the India team. Virat Kohli has that aura and presence. If England wins the next Test match then India will be in big trouble. This is a big moment for Rohit Sharma, he needs to show that he can turn around the match without Virat Kohli,” Monty Panesar added.
England will have a massive advantage over India in the absence of key Indian players While Virat Kohli has opted out of the first two Tests of the series for personal reasons, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja played the opening game but will miss the second due to injuries.
