KS Bharat warns England about India's comeback strategy ahead of 2nd Test

India’s wicketkeeper-batter for the Test series against England, KS Bharat has said that India might bring out new plans against England in the second Test match which is set to commence on Friday, February 2. KS Bharat shared that the Indian side is ready to face and counter the Bazball approach if and when required. India lost the first Test match in Hyderabad by 28 runs as England’s Bazball approach emerged calculative and triumphant in the series opener.

During the pre-match press conference for India’s second Test of the five-match series against England, KS Bharat shared that the hosts are ready to make a comeback from their defeat in the series opener, and have been practicing diligently in the nets. The wicketkeeper also said that he, along with the other Indian batters, had been working on reverse sweeps, which was one of England’s key weapons in Hyderabad.

England batters like Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, and Ben Duckett used many perfectly executed sweeps and reverse sweeps in the first Test to deal with the prowess of Indian spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. KS Bharat, while acknowledging Pope’s innings, also assured that Indian batters can also adopt a similar technique when the situation requires them to.

“Playing in India, we play a lot of cricket on these tracks. It’s not that we don’t know how to sweep, reverse sweep or pedal, but on that particular day depending on the situation of the team, we as batters take our calls,” KS Bharat said on Indian batters playing reverse sweeps.

KS Bharat Talks About Reverse Sweeps And The Team’s Tactics Ahead Of Second Test

KS Bharat also shared that the team had a long discussion on the mistakes committed in the first Test and what could have been done better in the series opener. The wicketkeeper also mentioned that the Indian side practiced reverse weeps before the first Test, but the decision to use the shot remains with the players themselves.

“In our team meetings, we spoke about the things we could have done better and yes, we certainly have few plans. (We are) definitely looking at the way how they went about the first game, playing some reverse. That’s something we have definitely worked on,” Bharat added.

KS Bharat also gave assurance regarding Indian batter facing the likes of Tom Hartley. Hartley was making his debut and played a pivotal part in England’s victory taking seven wickets in India’s second innings. The keeper, however, did not shy away from giving credit to Tom Hartley for his performance as the debutant was brilliant on the fourth day of the first Test.

“We don’t play the bowlers, we play the ball. On any given day, it can be experienced or inexperienced (bowler), there is nothing like inexperienced in cricket. On that particular day, if someone bowls well, you have to give credit to them.” Bharat said about Tom Hartley.

The second Test between India and England will be played at Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Vishakhapatnam. England are currently leading the series by 1-0 and will be hoping to increase their lead by winning the second Test as well. India is in huge trouble as they have lost two big names KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja due to injury.