Team India has gelled well under Virat Kohli’s captaincy first against New Zealand by winning the Test series 3-0 and now during the ongoing tour against England, they are sitting comfortably at 2-0 lead with two Tests to go. Head coach Anil Kumble believes the team has responded well to the challenge posed by Alastair Cook’s men so far.
“The injuries are the part and parcel of the game. And the players are satisfied with their performances during the games, so far so good,” Head Coach of India, Anil Kumble said during the press conference ahead of the fourth Test at Wankhade.
While setting the benchmark, it’s pertinent to mention India have not lost a home series after going down 1-2 against England in 2012.
India in their backyard and being ranked No. 1 team in Tests were always going to be challenging for visitors like England.
“So far Indian team has stood well to the England challenge,” Kumble remarked.
The hosts have had a disciplined show with the ball during the series as all the bowlers have stuck to the basics to yield results in their favour.
The sub-continent wickets are considered fortress for spinners and behave differently than on English soil and it seems India have learnt lesson from early hiccups during past series.
However, England came as underdogs after going down to Bangladesh inside three days in second Test at Sher-e-Bangla stadium.
We didn’t witness many five-fers as we used to during the recent series which clearly indicates every bowler chipped in.
Parthiv Patel, who came back after long lay-off of eight years – hit 42 and unbeaten 67 in his two innings after Wriddhiman Saha was left out due to side strain in his left thigh.
It’s always a huge challenge for Indian openers during the series to settle down for a long-run as India had come up with different pair of openers since past many years owing to injuries.
The batters have put on skating shoes to lead from the front including skipper Virat Kohli himself before spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and fast bowlers including Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav have ran past the batting order of opposition and scored some crucial runs too.