As Indian bowlers wreaked havoc on England batsmen in the ongoing second Test at MA Chidambaram Stadium, England’s assistant coach Graham Thorpe has termed the Chepauk pitch as a “very challenging surface”, claiming it was hard for the tourists to bat given the strong Indian spin attack at home.
India won the toss and scored 329 in the 1st innings and then dismissed England for 134 in their innings with Ben Foakes top-scored with 42* as R Ashwin scalped 5 wickets for 43 on Sunday. India reached 54-1 at stumps to lead by 249 overall going into the third day on Monday (February 15).
Thorpe said in a press conference after stumps on Sunday, “It is a very challenging surface that is what I am going to say. In terms of me commenting on the pitch, I think that is for someone above me to look at. It was incredibly challenging on that surface for us on Day two. Theirs is obviously a very skilled spin attack as well on their own conditions. And it was a very good toss to win.”
On being asked how the England batsmen would need to bat on a tricky Chepauk pitch, Thorpe said: “There are some balls in the pitch which you may not be able to do much about we talked about having a plan. The areas we can attack and how we can defend, so, if the guys have plans but they didn't happen today for us.
There were some good deliveries in there. Some unfortunate dismissals as well, some good catches from India too, we didn't get the partnerships going.”
The assistant coach further added, “I thought Ben Foakes played very well. The ball got a little bit softer. We lost early wickets in the piece and that really set us back today. We have some players in our team who are touring this part of the world for the first time against a very very strong Indian side.
Just as last week when we won the first Test here we know we have to stand up, keep learning as well, that's the most important thing. Keep learning and keep developing in this part of the world. We knew we are going to have some challenging days here.”
With India has already taken a big lead in the ongoing second Test, Thorpe believes that England will need “something very special” in their second innings to save the match on a deteriorating surface.
He added, “You'd say we need something very special to happen tomorrow for us and for somebody to do something amazing with that bat. We're naturally disappointed with the deficit in the game after two days, but it's important we don't allow ourselves to get too down about it.”
Thorpe signed off by saying, “It's about being very patient (on a turning track) like you play on a seaming wicket. You need to really tide through the early phase and then start putting runs on the board. So I think the same kind of expectations and benchmarks need to be set on a challenging pitch.”
(With Skysports/PTI Inputs)
