Mumbai: The Bangladesh tour, ahead of the five-match Test series against India in their backyard, had raised more questions than finding answers for the England side. While Ben Stokes did his bit to save his side from the blushes of a series loss, his teammates were clueless as Mehedi Hasan Raza and Shakib Al Hasan ran riot.
Alastair Cook and Co, who were in Mumbai ahead of the first Test in Rajkot starting on November 9, left no stone unturned as they practiced against the net bowlers under the watchful eyes of coach Trevor Bayliss and batting coach Mark Ramprakash.
While England would be hoping to improve after the fiasco in the Bangladesh tour, the Three Lions could be in for some more difficult times in the India series, according to a net-bowler in Mumbai.
Siddharth Sharma, who bowled against Root during the practice session at the Cricket Club of India on Saturday, believes that England’s numero uno batsman is playing his shots a bit too early.
“I was bowling in the good area and Joe Root was leaving the balls outside the off stump. Although he was playing some good shots, he tends to play his shots too early. I tried something with the semi-new ball and he might struggle in the match,” said Sharma.
“Although England batsmen played well against spinners in the nets, they can struggle if the wickets are very slow. If they get a wicket like this (like the one at the CCI), they will struggle against spin. They will struggle for the bounce and if the ball stops a bit on the wicket. It will be very difficult because on the English wicket the ball comes very fast and here it stops a little. So, they may find it difficult during the late hours of day’s play,” added the 23-year-old pace bowler.
Meanwhile Siddharth, who also bowled against Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Steven Finn, admitted that it was a good experience bowling to an international team like England.
Siddharth had also bowled against the Poms in 2012-13.
When the team was in India in 2012-13, he was amongst a group of cricketers against whom England stars practiced. He praised Eoin Morgan, who now leads England side in the limited-over cricket but is no longer a part of England’s Test squad, and said that the attacking player of Morgan’s class should have been with this side.
“Morgan is a classy player. He plays well. He is an attacking player and does not defend much and someone England should have had (in Tests) in these conditions,” he said.
