England pacer Richard Gleeson made a remarkable debut on the international stage, but his efforts with the ball were not enough, as the hosts suffered a 49-run defeat against India in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match T20I series on Saturday (July 9).
The 34-year-old pacer registered impressive figures of 3/15 on his debut for England, as the hosts restricted Team India to 170/8, but they fell 49 runs short of the target to lose the T20I series to the Men in Blue, with the final T20I set to be played on Sunday (July 10) at Trent Bridge.
Gleeson was happy with his debut performance and said that if he keeps performing in such a way, he might get a chance to play in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022. Notably, he scalped all the crucial Indian wickets of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Rishabh Pant in the second T20I.
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Richard Gleeson said at the post-match press conference: “Great to make my debut, but it's all about winning games of cricket really, at the end of the day. So it's disappointing to lose, but on a personal note, great start. You want to play in big occasions, don't you? So, yeah, why not? I'll just look towards the next game and go from there.”
He further added, “England selection wasn't anywhere near my radar. It was just to play to the highest standard that I could. I just want to keep playing cricket and enjoying it, playing for as long as I can. Who knows? If I keep performing, anything could happen.”
The right-arm pacer also felt that a 171-run target was tough on the Birmingham pitch, and then the Indian bowlers brilliantly bowled to bundle out England for 121 to win the series on Saturday.
Notably, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/15), Yuzvendra Chahal (2/10), and Jasprit Bumrah (2/10) were the standout bowlers for India in the second match against England.
Gleeson further noted, “I think maybe they (India) were a little bit over-par. And then they started well with the ball. So that's always going to put us on the back foot, and they bowled well. But that can be the way T20 cricket goes at times. You play the game hard, so sometimes you come off, sometimes you don't. It's just you've got to take the rough with the smooth if you're going to play that way, and I don't think we'll be taking a backward step in the next game.”
The pacer revealed that he had suffered a career-threatening stress fracture of the lower back in 2020 and that it forced him to think about retirement.
He signed off by saying, “It wasn't me contemplating retirement. It's something that would have been forced upon me. The recovery was a long, slow process. Unfortunately, because of my age, it takes a little bit longer to heal from things like that. But (playing again) makes it all worthwhile.”
(With PTI Inputs)
