Indian Bowling Coach Ready for England's Aggressive Approach
Paras Mhambrey anticipates Bazball style, praises Ollie Pope's century.
By : Upender Yellutla
Update: 2024-01-28 09:25 GMT
Hyderabad: Indian bowling coach Paras Mhambrey on Saturday said that his side was prepared for England’s Bazball approach after the end of the Day 3 of the first Test.
“Prior to the series we knew their style (Bazball). Over the last few years or maybe a few months you have seen England’s batting approach. We were expecting them to come out here and play those shots and show aggression,” said Paras after England reached 316 for 6 to take a 126-run lead at stumps.
Paras acknowledged England’s Ollie Pope (148 off 208 balls, 17x4) for his brilliant unbeaten century and said the bowlers would be under pressure when someone bats like that. “It’s always a challenge. Pope played the sweep and reverse sweep consistently. He really played well and took on the attack. Sometimes someone plays some good shots like these consistently and puts pressure on bowlers. But we have to still stick with patience to the lines and we have to hit the right areas,” he said.
The former Indian cricketer said that his team is not worrying about the opposition’s score and their lead. “We are not really looking at any particular target right now. But our main objective is to come and bowl to get early wickets and limit the total. We are not putting any pressure on ourselves. We just want to bowl in the right areas to extract turn and bounce from the wicket,” said the 51-year-old.
“The pitch still has something for the bowlers. There is some turn but it is not the usual turn you see in the Indian sub-continental wickets, the sharp turn when the game progresses. There is a little turn but certainly not as challenging as one would have expected it to be,” he added.
“If you look at the last few overs of the last session there is still little turn in the stumpline areas. I don’t think it will change tomorrow (Sunday). The pace of the wicket got a little slower and it was easier to negotiate the turn. But, it is enough to keep the bowlers in,” Mhambrey said.
“Prior to the series we knew their style (Bazball). Over the last few years or maybe a few months you have seen England’s batting approach. We were expecting them to come out here and play those shots and show aggression,” said Paras after England reached 316 for 6 to take a 126-run lead at stumps.
Paras acknowledged England’s Ollie Pope (148 off 208 balls, 17x4) for his brilliant unbeaten century and said the bowlers would be under pressure when someone bats like that. “It’s always a challenge. Pope played the sweep and reverse sweep consistently. He really played well and took on the attack. Sometimes someone plays some good shots like these consistently and puts pressure on bowlers. But we have to still stick with patience to the lines and we have to hit the right areas,” he said.
The former Indian cricketer said that his team is not worrying about the opposition’s score and their lead. “We are not really looking at any particular target right now. But our main objective is to come and bowl to get early wickets and limit the total. We are not putting any pressure on ourselves. We just want to bowl in the right areas to extract turn and bounce from the wicket,” said the 51-year-old.
“The pitch still has something for the bowlers. There is some turn but it is not the usual turn you see in the Indian sub-continental wickets, the sharp turn when the game progresses. There is a little turn but certainly not as challenging as one would have expected it to be,” he added.
“If you look at the last few overs of the last session there is still little turn in the stumpline areas. I don’t think it will change tomorrow (Sunday). The pace of the wicket got a little slower and it was easier to negotiate the turn. But, it is enough to keep the bowlers in,” Mhambrey said.