England fast bowler, Chris Jordan has come out and expressed that his team doesn't have much to worry about from their defeat in the first T20 International at Old Trafford and they are confident that with a little more application and smarter approach they should be able to counter the threat that India's wrist spinners, especially Kuldeep Yadav, possess.
England batted quite well against Yuzvendra Chahal in the first game but it was Kuldeep Yadav against whom they had no answer. The classical legspinner ran through the English middle order and picked up matchwinning figures of 5-24 in his 4 overs. It is here, Jordan reiterated, Eoin Morgan's men will have to be wiser come the next match on Friday, July 6.
Ahead of the important counter, Jordan said, “We’ve been on a high in white-ball cricket for a while now. One game, one defeat, shouldn’t change our confidence whatsoever. You still want to be on the front foot, and still, want to play positive cricket. It was a good spell from Kuldeep Yadav, first of all, and then, a very good innings from K.L. Rahul. They thoroughly deserved the win,”
“We are not at all worried (about playing spin). We’ve got some very experienced players in our dressing room — some very, very good players of spin. I think our record against spin since 2015 has been one of the better ones anyway and right up there as one of the best teams. We’ve just got to keep reminding ourselves of those positives. Yes, we know we probably have to be a bit smarter against Kuldeep and their (other) spinners. They’ll try to use them wisely and tactically. But, if we still try to stay on the front foot, as much as possible, and keep putting pressure back on them, I hope we’ll be okay. Kuldeep is a quality spinner, a different spinner, and can be quite tough to pick at times,”
On Thursday, the home side was also seen employing the spin-bowling machine, Merlyn, to specifically practice to counter India's spin. Jordan talked about the usefulness of the technology and said, “Merlyn is a good addition, especially when you don’t have someone to replicate bowling left-arm ‘chinaman’. It is ‘over-training’ actually because Merlyn obviously does spin and bounce a lot more. But, if you come out of a Merlyn session, you’re in pretty good order,”
“There’s also so much video footage around. A few of the guys would have played with Kuldeep at Kolkata Knight Riders and watched him across the IPL. It’s just trying to get an insight maybe into his mindset as well, and when he bowls which ball. They also do have 10 other good players as well, so we can’t get too caught up with Kuldeep,”
Jordan also rues the chances that England's fielders couldn't take in Manchester, especially the game changing one of KL Rahul very early into his innings of 101* from just 54 balls. He said, “Maybe, had we hung on to one or two of our chances, it could have been different because he (Rahul) did give us a couple. Someone might know what you’re going to do every single ball (because of playing together in the IPL). But, you can also bluff them as well, so they might not know what’s coming.”
“It’s a very good experience, good for me for the last three years. I feel as though my game has improved and evolved, even though the last couple of years I haven’t played as much as I would have liked. You’re training and playing with so many top players from around the world that you have no choice, but to improve and evolve, even if it’s off the field,”
However, he is confident of leveling the series in Cardiff. He concluded by talking about the healthy rivalry that India-England share on and off the field and said, “When you do cross the white line, you do want to play hard, because you’re playing for your country. You want to give 100% and put the opposition under as much pressure as possible. You’re on the battlefield, but as soon as the game finishes, we can go and sit and have a chat and a drink like anyone else, and still be very good friends,”
(Inputs from SPORTSTAR Live)
