ENG vs IND 2018: We Should have Capitalized on the Good Start - Sanjay Bangar
India batting coach Sanjay Bangar rued the team’s failure to capitalise on a solid start provided by Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan on day two of the first Test.
India started the second day on a good note, taking the last English wicket quickly to fold their innings on 287.
The visitors then further strengthened their grip, as the openers helped the team to 50/0 at one stage.
However, the start was not at all the precursor of how the rest of the innings was going to follow. Sam Curran triggered a mini-collapse by dismissing Murali Vijay, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan in quick succession to leave India reeling at 59 for three in no time.
Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane then steadied the ship for a while before Ben Stokes struck twice. The all-rounder dismissed Rahane and Dinesh Karthik quickly to reduce India to 100 for five.
From there on, India kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. However, Virat Kohli waged a lone battle to bail them out of trouble.
The 29-year old held firm from one end to take India close to England’s first innings total. He forged useful partnerships with the lower-order, scoring 149 as India posted 274.
Speaking after the day’s play, Sanjay Bangar praised the openers for handling the new ball well. At the same time, he rued the team’s failure to make the most of the start.
“Once we got a good start, we should’ve capitalised on it,” Bangar said. “But the openers handled the new ball really well, and the angles that were created by Sam Curran – credit to him that he could create those angles.
“England is used to playing in these conditions, and we don’t really play in these conditions too often, but the gap is a mere 18 [13] runs. Definitely, the game is really well placed and the wicket which we got close to the end of day’s play has put the game in a very, very good balance,” Bangar added.
Meanwhile, India finished the day on a high by reducing England to nine for one. Ravi Ashwin once again castled Alastair Cook to put pressure on England.
