Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 29 (ANI): Ahead of the four-match Test series against India, England assistant batting coach Graham Thorpe said that the hosts’ bowling is not just about spinners as they also have a strong pace attack.
Most of the English players have struggled against spin on the Indian sub-continent and India does have impressive spinners with the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel in their squad. But Thorpe believes that hosts’ bowling attack as a whole is “very good”.
“The one thing about the Indian bowling attack is, it’s not just about spin. I suppose their seam attack is also strong and so from that point of view, it’s not to just get side-tracked completely into the spin side of things as well. Yes, it will be important no doubt about that,” Thorpe said in a virtual press conference.
“Indian bowling has developed into a very good attack and we are very aware of that. When you come to the sub-continent you will have to deal with spin. More so with the Indian attack, we are aware. The training time (three days) will be used to strike a fine balance practicing both,” he added.
The batting coach added that the visitors will stick to their ‘best ball’ against the India skipper Virat Kohli as he is a ‘fantastic player’.
“We know that he is a fantastic player and he has shown that for many years now. Virat is in one of that batting orders which understands home conditions very well,” Thorpe said.
“The key for our bowling attack will be to bowl our best ball as often as we can. I don’t think we can ask for anything more from our spinners and seamers. We need to have runs on the board and then having the Indian batting order under pressure will really be the key for us. To take the game deep will be an important aspect for England,” he added.
England skipper Joe Root will be playing his 100th Test match when they meet India in the first Test of the series. Thorpe said root is a great student of the game who is focused on scoring more runs and improving his game.
“I think you need a good sense of humour to play that amount of cricket because you will experience highs but there are gonna be some moments in the way where you have your lows and you have to show a bit of character and resilience. And then you have to adapt to the next situation and sometimes you have to tinker with your technique and you have to manage all that,” Thorpe said.
“To play 100 Test matches is no mean feat and he will be very proud and his family will be very proud. He is a great student of the game, watching other people play and learning. He is somebody who does not want to be standstill and he got a great hunger to score runs as well and improve,” he added.
India and England are set to lock horns in four Tests, three ODIs, and five T20Is. The first two games of the 4-game series will be played in Chennai before the cricketers move to Ahmedabad for the third and fourth Test. (ANI)