Ind vs Eng: Had discussion with Ashwin regarding bowling in right areas, says Kuldeep
Feb 16, 2021
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 16 : After registering an emphatic 317-run win against England in the second Test, spinner Kuldeep Yadav on Tuesday revealed that he had discussions with Ravichandran Ashwin regarding bowling in the right areas.
Kuldeep had not played a single Test against Australia in the 2020-21 series and he did not feature in the first Test against England as well. The spinner finally played in the second Test, and he was able to take two wickets (Ben Foakes and Moeen Ali) in the second innings.
"It was important to stay along with the team when it's playing well. My job was to keep control, contain runs from one end, and chip in as one of the three spinners on this track. We have been planning for this series for a long time, right from the Australia series. There was some pressure, having not played a lot of Tests in the last two years. Was discussing a lot with Ashwin regarding bowling in right areas and putting the pressure on the batsmen," Kuldeep told host broadcaster Star Sports after the conclusion of the second Test.
"We weren't worried after losing the first Test, we have been in such situations before, in my first series in 2017, we had lost the first Test against Australia in Pune. We're relaxed, we knew we had the team to come back and perform. Everyone was just focused on doing well in this Test," he added.
Ashwin took an eight-wicket haul in the second Test, along with his 106-run knock in the second innings as India registered an emphatic 317-run win here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday. In the second innings, the visitors were bowled out for 164 as debutant Axar Patel took his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
India levelled the four-match Test series 1-1 against England after an emphatic 317-run win in the second Test here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday.
India remains in contention to make the final of the ICC World Test Championship after completing an impressive victory over England in the second Test to draw level in the four-match series.
The victory in Chennai on Tuesday has lifted India to the second position with 69.7 percentage points on the points table but they cannot afford to lose another match as they need to win 2-1 or 3-1 to qualify for the final of the maiden edition of the championship.
England, who led the table after winning the opening Test, has slipped to the fourth spot with 67.0 percentage points. They can still qualify, but for that, they must win both remaining matches of the series against India.
