Mishra will find rhythm

India leg-spin bowler Amit Mishra has admitted that he failed to perform at his best during his country’s drawn first Test against England in Rajkot.

The Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium’s pitch proved to be incredibly batsmen-friendly and the spinner feels that just a little more pace would have made for a more entertaining game.

England fell four wickets short of securing an upset victory in the first of five Tests against hosts India.

Mishra

Mishra told bcci.tv: “It was a good wicket for batting. It was a slow wicket. It would have been a lot more exciting had there been more pace in the wicket.”

The spinner felt that India’s bowlers could have put more pressure on the England batsmen up front, to push for a result.

Mishra added: “There is difficulty for the bowlers to bowl on wickets that are suitable for batting and you are about to bowl to a side that has already scored 500 plus. It is important as a bowler to bowl in the right areas and make the batsmen commit errors. We tried our best but credit to them for the way they batted.”

1024x768__origin__0x0_Ravi_Ashwin_Amit_Mishra

The leg spinner missed out on the series against New Zealand and admitted to being a little undercooked going into this Test having only played a few ODIs.

He went on: “I wouldn’t say I bowled very well. It did take time for me to get my rhythm, especially since I was playing a Test after a long time. I was at the bench for two Tests in the West Indies and then sat out in the New Zealand Test series.

“Also, I was coming off from the ODI series so the transition from ODIs to Tests did take some time. Today, I believe there was improvement in my bowling in the second innings and I bowled better.

“The first innings didn’t go my way but I began to get my rhythm in the second innings when the pitch began to help the spinners a bit. Hopefully, I can continue with this rhythm in the next Test match if I get a chance.

“I do have the confidence of the five for I took against New Zealand in Vizag and my preparations will only get better come the second Test.

Despite a nervy end the Test Mishra contends that the Indian dressing room were always confident they would avoid defeat.

He contended: “There was a bit of pressure but we were confident of the outcome. Our batsmen were in form and had runs under their belt.

virat-kohli

“The batsmen to follow were also confident that they could bat it out. It was great batting from Kohli and Jadeja, who was very positive and he even went for shots.

“At such a time, the bowlers tend to get on the back foot. That gets them thinking. He was asked to play his natural game but at the same time not try anything flashy. Both showed great temperament and showed we wouldn’t succumb under pressure.”

Mishra feels India will take a lot of confidence from this first game and will grow in stature as the series progresses.

He concluded: “We will take confidence from this Test and there were quite a few positives that we can take into the next Test. We replied well to their 500 plus score and we played positive cricket. We will try to do well in the next match.”

Latest