Mumbai, Nov 21: The England team arrived in India well aware that the coming month and a half was going to be far from a cakewalk. And with their nine-wicket defeat in the first Test they have been proved right. In Ahmedabad, the visitors were outplayed by India in all aspects of the game. And England’s steady middle-order bat Jonathan Trott thinks it was because “we had some good individual performances, but we didn’t play well as a team.”
It will take immense courage and grit on part of England to bounce back from the loss and keep India from going 2-0 up after the Mumbai Test. Trott believes they can do it.
“This series was never going to be easy. We have some really hard work ahead of us,” Trott said. “We were caught out in the first innings [in Ahmedabad] and didn’t play very well. We forged a good fight back in the second innings and that shows that we can score big totals.
“Travelling to Kolkata, 1-1 will be great. It is a huge challenge but this team has overcome its challenges in the last couple of years and it will be good to add this Test in the collection,” Trott said.
England needn’t look too far for inspiration as they try to fight their way to win in Mumbai. Captain Alastair Cook’s 176-run knock in the second innings in Ahmedabad was as good a confidence booster for England as there can be.
“What you can take from Cook is his determination and stubbornness, saying ‘this is my game and this is how I’m going to play and will stick to what works for me’. For him to play his first Test in India as captain and lead from the front was brilliant. It is what us, as batsmen, will strive to do,” Trott said.
Trott seconded Cook’s thoughts that getting dismissed for 191 in the first innings was where England lost the first Test. That collective failure with the bat was mostly put down to the England batsmen’s perceived vulnerability against spin bowling. Trott feels each individual needs to find a way out to handle spinners in a way that suits him.
“I think we’re improving,” Trott insisted. “It gets highlighted a lot but generally you’re going to play a lot of spin bowling here and so it will be the spinners who take most of the wickets. It’s about putting an emphasis on trusting your own game and stick to that. That’s what Cookie did.
“Cook found that he doesn’t bat the way the Indian batsmen play on these wickets. His method works for him. We have players who have played here before and we have to put up a good game together,” he said.
This series is a major challenge for Trott personally as well. It is his first Test tour to this country and he is determined to go back home with good memories.
“I was speaking to Graham Gooch and I told them it has always been my ambition to play a Test series in India and now that I am here, I want to make the most of it. There are three Test matches left and I’m looking forward to them. I know everyone else in the team is too. We understand a big challenge lies ahead of us but we know we can do it,” he said.
