"You're going to have tough moments.."- Ben Foakes issues a stern warning

Ben Foakes the England wicketkeeper played a pivotal part with the bat and the gloves in his team’s win in the first Test in Hyderabad. England beat India by 28 runs to lead the series 1-0. The second Test begins on February 2 in Vizag.

Foakes scored 34 off 81 balls with the bat in the second innings and effected two stumpings of Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj to win the game for his side. He was safe as a house behind the stumps after he dropped a chance from KL Rahul in the first innings.

This was the fifth time Ben Foakes was involved in a century stand in the Bazball era and all of them resulted in victories. Foakes in a conversation with ESPN Cricinfo first spoke about how he managed to get his runs in the second innings.

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“Going into that, I was thinking, ‘These are horrific wickets – I just need to find a way to stay in. I think now the group is more, if that’s the situation, you’ve got to be positive; got to put it [pressure] back on the bowler and put them under pressure” Foakes said.

He added 112 runs in the second innings with Ollie Pope (196) allowing England to cross the 400 mark in the second innings after being bowled out for just 246 in the first innings.

“I usually get about 25 of them. At Surrey, I bat at No. 5, so I just bat and that’s really an ideal situation for me, whereas playing for England, batting lower down, I’d say my game is better suited to when a batter stays in” added the England keeper.

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Ben Foakes despite being safe behind the stumps did not have a second chance coming his way after the KL Rahul drop. He had to wait until the two stumpings to see his name on the scoreboard in the Test match. The keeper stressed staying level-headed on pitches like this where the ball turns square from day 1.

“The more extreme the conditions you know things are occasionally going to wrong so you just have to be mentally strong enough to put it out of your mind. There is a good chance the next one is going to be a tough one” he said.

Indian Pitches Up There With The Hardest: Ben Foakes

Foakes concluded about keeping in India and Indian conditions. He said that India is the hardest place to keep but admitted that as a keeper he is always in the game. He further admitted that the conditions are not natural for him as a keeper and hence he is constantly learning.

“You’re in the game, so it’s nice as a keeper. It’s obviously a very hard place to keep, and you’re aware of that. You’re going to have some tough moments or a tough day. But you’d rather be in the game than watching the ball do nothing in front of you. In conditions like this, it’s about trying to think on your feet and learn because it’s not natural conditions [for me]. I’ve obviously kept away a lot and kept to spinners, but I find that Indian pitches, with the variable bounce, are up there with the hardest” concluded Foakes.

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