Looking at how England went about in 1st game; practising some sweep shots: KS Bharat

Visakhapatnam: With India 1-0 behind in the five-game Test series against England, wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat said the hosts’ have taken a cue from the visitors’ batting approach in the series opener at Hyderabad and have been making an effort to focus on sweep shots ahead of the second match at the ACA-VDCA Stadium starting on Friday.

England secured a thrilling 28-run win over India in the series opener at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad last week, on the back of vice-captain Ollie Pope’s magnificent 196 and debutant spinner Tom Hartley’s 7-62 helping them emerge victorious from a situation of conceding a 190-run lead.

In that game, England relied heavily on sweep and reverse-sweep as run-making options, something which the Indian batters have been practising at in their nets session in Visakhapatnam.

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

“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 paddle-sweep, but on that particular day depending on the situation of the team, we as batters take our calls. It is very clear to us to bat with freedom.

“We have also practiced the reverse sweeps before the first game as well. But while playing out in the centre, it is the batters’ individual plan. If the team demands us to play in a certain way then we are up to it. But individually we have separate set plans and looking to do well as a batting unit in this game,” said Bharat in the pre-match press conference.

Asked about any doubts in the dressing room post the loss to England, Bharat denied any such claims. “After the game, the atmosphere (in the team) 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.

“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,” he said. IANS

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