Tom Hartley's father reveals his son's unstable mental condition a night before he deflated India's batting lineup

If there was one man in the whole world who felt like he was on top of the world on January 28th then it was England’s left-arm off-spinner Tom Hartley who not only registered a 7-wicket haul in the 4th innings of his debut Test outing but also snatched victories from the hands of India. But how did he do so? His father Bill Hartley disclosed – without any sleep the night before day 4 in Hyderabad.

Tom Hartley brought back memories of England’s previous tour of India when they experienced something similar in the opening Test match in Chennai, the only difference being the run difference. In the 2021 tour’s first Test, the Three Lions claimed victory by a heavy margin of 227 runs but could not repeat the antics of 2012 as they went on to lose the next 3 Tests.

This time around there is hope, not a glimmer of it but full confidence that the 2012 performance can be repeated and that India will once again receive humbling from England. The Indians had a team in transition when they lost their last Test series at home and the situation is pretty similar this time around as well.

As for the visitors, everything seems to be set, from combinations to confidence, and coupled with the never-give-up mindset, you can see exactly what Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes tried to instill in the Test team. From trailing by 190 to setting up 231 as the target and then having a debutant like Tom Hartley, only self-made mistakes can keep England away from clinching a famous series win here.

It won’t be a shock if England uses Shoaib Bashir in the 2nd Test to further sharpen their spinning edge. With Jack Leach, Rehan Ahmed, and Hartley on his side, the youngster will not take much time to settle in.

“I Spoke To Him And He Said He Hasn’t Slept That Great”, Reveals Tom Hartley’s Father

In an interview given after his son racked up 9 wickets across innings in the 1st Test, Bill Hartley disclosed that on the morning of day 4, he found out that Tom Hartley had not had enough sleep due to growing tension and nervousness about his bowling and the match result.

Fast forward to later that day (Sunday), the 24-year-old named wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, KS Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj. Bill stated that it was as if he felt all the emotions at once and called it an out-of-body experience.

“Cricket is a brutal game – we talk about it being the gentleman’s game, but when you’re out in the middle it’s not like that at all. He was obviously nervous. I spoke to him yesterday [on Sunday evening] and he said he hadn’t slept that great the night before and didn’t bowl the way he was capable of. But he bounced back, didn’t he? Almost an out-of-body experience – Sunday morning was the four seasons of emotion really.” – Bill Hartley said.