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Before England get too far ahead of themselves, wicketkeeper KS Bharat has sent a timely reminder to Ben Stokes about India’s ability to bounce back after an early defeat. England beat India by 28 runs on Day 4 in Hyderabad to pick up a 1-0 lead but as recent history has proven, losing the first Test of a series has brought the best out of the Indian team. Be in the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy or the 2021 series against England, India, from being 0-1 down, went on to win the series.
Bharat, who addressed India’s press conference on the eve of the 2nd Test in Visakhapatnam starting Friday, was crystal clear in his thoughts, which brilliantly summed up the adage ‘don’t count your chicken before they hatch’
“We are good at bouncing back after losing the first Test, so as a team we’re looking to do well. England won in Hyderabad. Ollie Pope played well, and some of the sweeps and reverse sweeps their guys played were impressive. Credit where it’s due. They deserved to win. But like I said, we have bounced back previously as well so yeah, looking forward to this next challenge,” Bharat said.
Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid’s clear-cut message
Bharat understands that India’s Playing XI isn’t the most experienced. With Virat Kohli already out of the first two Tests, injuries to KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja have further dented the team combination. To fill the void, Rajat Patidar is poised to make his Test debut for India, with expectations that Shubman Gill and Shreyas will deliver. Having said that, a five-match Test series means there is a long way to go, so although the defeat last week has pushed India down to No. 5 on the WTC table, it’s too early to jump to any conclusions.
“After the game, the atmosphere is absolutely relaxed. They asked us not to panic. The instruction is very clear that it’s a long Test series and we have played such series in the past. And we as individuals have to focus on good things. Things that we want to try, which we want to implement. We just want to play good cricket. That’s the message from the captain and the coach,” added Bharat.
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