Liam Dawson happy on debut knock

Chennai: Indian bowlers ran into a brick wall in debutant Liam Dawson as his resolute unbeaten knock of 66 (148b, 5x4, 1x6) enabled England claim the day’s honours with a robust score of 477. Barely a month ago, Dawson was an aspirant to receiving the badge of honour of a Test cricketer. And on the day he had the first real opportunity to prove his mettle, he didn’t disappoint as his defiance shone through.

Talking to the media at the end of the day’s play, Dawson shared his thoughts on his debut and how the day unfolded. “It is nice to do well on debut. It was an interesting first few balls in Test cricket for me but I was pleased to get through them. I was extremely excited and from a team’s point of view as well we want to finish on a high. We are in a fairly good position,” he said.

Dawson said the wicket was good. “There isn’t a huge amount of spin and there hasn’t been much pace in it for the seamers either. So Sunday will result in more hard work for us,” he added. While not exactly sounding careworn, Umesh Yadav hoped that a positive result for India can still be a possibility. “The match is just two days old. If we bat well and bat long, obviously we will try to bowl them out in the next innings. Let’s see how the wicket behaves. If it turns after the third day, I think there is still some interest left in the game,” Umesh said.

On bowling short to Moeen Ali, the Indian pacer said the plan was already there. “On Friday, the fast bowlers didn’t bowl that much short-pitched stuff. We discussed this strategy in the team meeting and planned to bowl short to Moeen and make sure he plays all the balls. We wanted to target his left shoulder and after that we got the momentum,” he added.

Umesh said bowling along with Ishant boosted his morale. “Ishant is a senior bowler. He has a lot of experience. He came back from a break and he has hit the stride straightaway. It helps a lot to have a senior bowler bowling well in tandem with you and that will boost your morale,” he added.