Ben Foakes
Ben Foakes (Image Credit: Twitter)

England keeper-batsman Ben Foakes made a comeback to Test cricket three years after he made his debut. However, it was not a cheerful return as, despite his best efforts, England ended up on the losing side in the last two Tests against India. Ben Foakes recognized that the curators have pushed the conditions to the extreme and it’s a challenge to stand tall against those.

England’s batsmen have struggled to keep the runs coming in the last two Tests as Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin have tangled a web around them. The pink-ball Test in Ahmedabad saw the visitors register scores of 112 and 81 as Axar Patel took 11 wickets in the match. The second match witnessed England failing to cross 200 in both innings, losing it by 317 runs.

Ollie Pope of England (BCCI)
Ollie Pope of England (BCCI)

Ben Foakes admitted that India thoroughly outplayed England in tricky conditions. The keeper-batsman claimed that they have to come up with plans to counter India’s top-class bowlers and have an idea what to expect from the surface in the fourth Test. The 28-year old went on to state that the home side has pushed the conditions to the extremities and it is up to them to find appropriate answers to it.

“Obviously, we got thoroughly outplayed. Those were tricky conditions, but they played well. They have a couple of class spinners and we did not have answers to them so I think going forward, we have to be good enough to counter that to score big runs on the board. I think we know what we are going to get in the last Test in terms of surface. They are pushing their conditions to the extremeties and we know it is going to spin from ball number one, it is about finding a way to play well in those conditions,” Foakes said as quoted by ANI.

The last two pitches are hardest are the hardest I have kept on: Ben Foakes

Ben Foakes
Ben Foakes [Image Credit: BCCI]
Foakes, who has earned praise for his glovework, added that the last two pitches were amongst the most challenging he kept on as the ball was spinning manifold. The Essex cricketer hopes to draw the four-match rubber in the final Test, which he thinks would be a satisfying performance.

“The last two pitches are hardest are the hardest I have kept on, the last game, the pink-ball Test was skidding and the amount it was spinning, I have never seen that and it was a challenge to keep on those wickets. We have been outplayed in the last two games, but we are in a position to draw the series, we have to put a good performance and if we go away with a 2-2 draw, it will be a good performance,” he added.

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