England Were Not At Their Best; Our Top-Order Really Needed To Score: Ryan Sidebottom
Published - 08 Mar 2021, 07:12 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:42 AM
Former England seamer Ryan Sidebottom has opened up on England’s shambolic performances in the Test series in India. England suffered a disappointing outing in India in the four-match rubber as they lost it by 3-1, including an innings defeat in the final Test. Ryan Sidebottom felt that the tourists’ batting line-up was the most at fault, needing to support their bowlers, who did a good job.
England batsmen scored 200 runs in only two out of eight innings in India as no batsman other than Joe Root and Ben Stokes showed some resilience. The first innings of the series opener saw England make 578, suggesting that the rubber could be a highly competitive one. However, the wheels fell off for the tourists as they sustained heavy defeats one after the other, mainly due to the batsmen’s incompetence and meltdown against spin.
Ryan Sidebottom observed that England and Joe Root started the series outstandingly. However, India kept getting stronger and the tourists went the opposite side. The former left-arm speedster blamed England’s top-order batsmen for not scoring enough runs and underlined that top three are crucial in the sub-continent. Ryan Sidebottom conceded that losing early wickets for low scores were not helping England and credited India for maintaining their dominance at home.
“After the first Test, I thought we played some really good cricket. Joe Root started so well in the first Test when he posted a big score. And as the game went on, India have got stronger and stronger. Honestly, England have not been at their best. Our top order really needed to score. The top three are so important in the sub-continent. England have been three for 20 and 30 for four and that is really really difficult. Credit goes to India. They were brilliant on home soil. They haven’t lost many games in many years,” Ryan Sidebottom told Times of India.
India just grew in confidence and their discipline was fantastic: Ryan Sidebottom
The 43-year old further stated that in series like this, team management finds heroes and the ones who could step up in challenging times. The Yorkshire cricketer believes that bowlers did a credible job and England won the first Test but could not keep the same intensity as the hosts were too good.
“I think with the tournaments like this and tours, you get to see who are the players that may go on and have long careers with England and who have the skills. I think the bowlers did pretty well. It was just batsmen, needed runs on the board. England won the first Test but weren’t able to continue in the same vein. India just grew in confidence and their discipline was fantastic,” he added.
