Mumbai, Oct 22: One of the concern areas for England in their ODI series loss to India on the current tour has been the composition of their batting unit. Surprisingly, England have played an unchanged side right through the first three ODIs despite the successive defeats.
One of the players who hasn’t got a look in England’s playing eleven is Ian Bell. The stylish middle-order batsman, who had a prolific series against India in India’s tour to England, hasn’t played a single match in this ODI series despite being a very good player of spin. Jonathan Trott was to be the player whom Bell played ahead of but with Trott having hit a solid 98 in the third ODI against Mohali, the chances of him being dropped for Bell have reduced even further.
When Trott was asked about him being the one whom Bell would replace, Trott replied, “I don’t want to sit aside, I have done that in the past and not really enjoyed so, I want to play every game. But if I am told to take a break or whatever so be it. I will do what I am told.”
Speaking to the media ahead of the fourth match to be played at the Wankhede Stadium, Jonathon Trott reflected upon the series so far.
On the wicket
I have not played here, so I am not sure, but the nets are pretty similar to the strip that we are playing on tomorrow and that seemed pretty good. The average score here is 270 to 280 [runs], a high scoring ground. Hopefully we can have a great game and come away victorious.
On trailing 3-0
[It’s] a case of realizing that in the first three games we have not played upto our own expectations. India have played better cricket and we have lost opportunities to put up some good form as a team and as individuals.
You take every game as it comes. I am definitely looking forward to the [last] two regardless of how the series stands or what happened in the previous games. It’s an exciting part for me as an individual and for the rest of the guys.
On what went wrong
We haven’t played as well as we did in England. India have played well, I think, India have played lot better than they did in the summer. I can’t pinpoint exact reasons. [We have to] take some time off to reflect and think about it, but I think we had a pretty competitive total the other night [but] just couldn’t get across the line.
So, has the ability of playing against spinners cost England the series?
They are very good spinners. If you are spin bowlers playing for India, you are going to be very good. They have done very well. They have been key in the three games that they have won, so it would be a good challenge, a good indicator, how we play them tomorrow. I think we are playing them better and better each game, so, hopefully, tomorrow we can get that right.
On Ajinkya Rahane
He is a good player Rahane. I always thought he was a good player, got two fifties against us I think, and he played very well the other night.
On his role in the team
I like to think when I get runs we get big scores. So, it’s my job to go out there and do the best that I can. When I am told that I am not doing it right, then I will change. I just try to play to my strengths. I don’t try to be anybody or play any differently to what I believe in. I try to be the most beneficial to the team, to get the biggest total, that’s all I can do.
On batting in the Powerplay
Ravi [Bopara] and I could have pushed along a little bit maybe [at Mohali]. I think Ravi got out during the third powerplay. The way we lose wickets sort of put on breaks a little bit. But those are the things to work on. You are never a completely polished gemstone. You always want to be improving all the time and that’s what we do. We haven’t done well historically in the Powerplay as a team, but we are trying to get better.
On the on-field behavior of the players
We haven’t had any official warning or anything. I know the match officials have spoken to the captains about that sort of stuff. I don’t really know about the other stuff going on. Whichever eleven take the field, [they] are highly motivated and want to win. The guys get on really well. Sometimes people come across on TV, [is] actually different from what goes on in the game. Guys expect high standards of each other, high standards of themselves. So, we try to get the best out of each other and sometimes you go about [it in] a different ways. It’s all in the heat of the moment. But everyone gets on fine. Everyone respect each other as cricketers and as individuals.
