Rising star of England pace attack Sam Curran says it was unrealistic for him to perform in only his second test allthough he admitted bowling to Indian skipper Virat Kohli made him scrutinize his bowling
Kohli played a masterclass despite tumbling wickets from the other end. He build partnerships with the lower order batsmen to notch up his maiden test hundred in England and became the fourth Indian skipper to achieve the rare feat. Kohli went on to score 149 runs before falling to Adil Rashid but his effort saw Indian reach 273 runs despite loosing top 6 batsman under 150 runs.
57 run partnership between Kohli and Ishant frustrated us- Curran
“We had them at 100 for five, and felt in the game but then Virat played really well with their tail and frustrated us a little bit. Numbers 9, 10 or 11 aren’t walkovers anymore, and they can all hold a bat now. It was a frustrating partnership, but we’ve just got to be positive going into tomorrow,” said Curran who originally hails from Zimbabwe.
“Credit to a great innings there. I’m only in my second game, but I think it was a little eye-opener for watching the way he bats and how precise you’ve got to be with your lengths to him, he said.
Curran dismissed India’s top 3 batsman before Ben Stokes majestic spell proved too good for Ajinkya Rahane and Dinesh Karthik. Curran later send Hardik Pandya packing on a in-swinging yorker that hit the toe of the Baroda all-rounder as he was adjudged leg before wicket.
Talking about his bowling and conditions
“Personally, it was obviously a pretty special day for me with the ball. Coming on and taking a few early wickets, I can’t really remember it it was so unreal. You can’t really predict (if the ball will swing) until you start bowling a few. But the breeze was pretty good out there, the clouds came in and it started swinging especially when the lacquer came off the ball,” 20-years-old Curran said.
“Virat did nick a lot of balls outside off-stump that didn’t carry as well. We stuck to our plans very well against him, and on another day they would carry. No one means to drop catches, and on another day they would be taken. But you can’t dwell on those things too much especially in a game like this, because there’s going to be another chance coming at you straightaway,” he added.
Curran said the pitch had something for both bowlers and batsmen. He feels his team needs to bat through the course of third day and put India under immense pressure in the fourth innings.
Joe Root’s men will resume the innings on 9/1 after loosing Alastair Cook cheaply.
