In the second Test, India defeated England by 106 runs in Vizag on a pitch that benefited bowlers and batters alike, according to Harbhajan Singh. India leveled the five-match Test series 1-1 with the victory. Harbhajan Singh also made a statement on Indian batters’ performance in the 2nd Test match.
In order for the hosts to advance over time, the former cricket player from India wants them to keep playing on these kinds of pitches. Harbhajan brought up the fact that India’s tendency to play on spin-friendly surfaces at home contributed to their defeats in the first two World Test Championship (WTC) finals against New Zealand and Australia.
Team India won the second test by a massive 106 runs on Day 4 of the test match. The top bowlers for the team India in the second innings were Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin, who took three wickets each, while Axar, Kuldeep, and Mukesh back them with one wicket each.
I hope they will make it a habit of winning on good pitches- Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh gave the reason why India were unable to win the two World Test Championship finals in the recent video he shared on his YouTube channel:
“The biggest positive is India winning the game on a good wicket. That’s how you build a team. There’s no fun in winning on bad wickets. We failed to win the World Test Championship finals because we aren’t used to playing on such good wickets,”
The cricketer-turned-commentator continued:
“I hope that the mindset of Team India will change from here on. They go forward with positive intent and will make it a habit of winning on good wickets [pitches],”
It was a waste playing the opening game on a turner- Harbhajan Singh on team India’s defeat in the first test
Former Indian cricketer continued by saying that if the hosts had played on good pitch, they would have defeated the visitors in the opening game. A week has passed since India’s 28-run defeat in Hyderabad. He said:
“It was a waste playing the opening game on a turner. If India had played on a better wicket, they would’ve beaten England. They went in a direction that didn’t suit them. They played on a turner, and England ended up beating India,”
They made a good effort- Harbhajan Singh on Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin’s bowling performances against England
Harbhajan Singh also praised Ravichandran and Jasprit Bumrah, who were crucial in India’s victory with the ball. The compliments came after Ashwin claimed the valuable wickets of Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Joe Root in the fourth innings, and Bumrah claimed nine wickets, including six in England’s first innings.
The legendary off-spinner stated:
“It was great to see the bowlers. They made a good effort. We have to praise Jasprit Bumrah, six wickets in the first innings and three in the second innings. Exceptional bowling.”
Ashwin ended up taking the most wickets for India against England in the format with 97 scalps, while Bumrah became the fastest Indian to reach 150 Test wickets during the match. To reach 500 wickets in Test cricket, the off-spinner needs one more scalp.
“We have to also give credit to Ravichandran Ashwin, he bowled well and stuck to his areas. Hopefully, India will continue to deliver similar performances in Rajkot,” he continued.