Sir Alastair Cook expressed his belief that India, despite winning the Visakhapatnam Test, might be “relieved” to have avoided a series defeat, but England could perceive the hosts as vulnerable to another loss. Sir Alastair Cook was quite optimistic that England can deliver a counter-attacking punch in the 3rd Test match.
Despite notable performances from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Jasprit Bumrah in the second Test, India didn’t seem entirely comfortable. Other batters struggled to convert their starts, and bowlers like Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, and Mukesh Kumar had inconsistent spells.
Scores of 30-70 don’t win Test matches- Sir Alastair Cook
England fell short of the 399-run target but still managed to score 292 runs, which ranks among the highest fourth-innings totals by a visiting team in Test matches played in India.
“India will be relieved more than anything. They were under the cosh after the first Test England lost the game because not one of their batsmen had a match-winning innings. That is what they’ll look back at. Scores of 30-70 don’t win Test matches… England have got close here without any hundreds. They’ll be disappointed. There will definitely be things that England will take from this game, though. This Indian side can definitely be beaten again,” he added.
Indeed, the toss has been a significant factor in the outcome of both Tests. Winning the toss allows a team to make better use of favorable batting conditions and control the game early on. The teams that won the toss in both matches were able to set the tone and put pressure on their opponents, especially in the fourth innings.
He’s so desperate to fit into Bazball– Sir Alastair Cook on Joe Root
Sir Alastair Cook also addressed the challenges faced by Joe Root in the series, noting that the England captain has encountered difficulties with the bat, accumulating only 52 runs across four innings, a total less than that of Rehan Ahmed.
“He sees all these other people playing these aggressive shots, which suit their style. Rooty has got 11,500 Test runs, he’s brilliant, but he’s so desperate to fit into what Ben [Stokes] and Brendon [McCullum] are doing that sometimes I don’t think he gets his balance of attack and defense right,” Cook said.
“He’s England’s best batsman there’s ever been in all formats – but he does struggle sometimes with the tempo of this Bazball era,” he added.
The series is now level at 1-1, with the third Test set to begin on February 15 in Rajkot.