We need to bowl and bat well: Anderson
Vizag, Nov. 17: It’s just the opening day of the second cricket Test against India and England are already looking worried about the pitch on offer with pace spearhead James Anderson saying the visitors will have to bowl and bat out of their skins to dig themselves out of trouble.
“I’m not sure whether it (pitch) will stay together as well as Rajkot. There are already signs of the pitch keeping low. There will be more variable bounce, we have seen a few spun, so we are in tough position. We need to have a good day with the ball and an extremely good outing with the bat,” Anderson said after India had piled up 317 for 4, courtesy Virat Kohli’s 151 and Cheteshwar Pujara’s 119.
“The pitch is quite abrasive. The outfield is lush, there are not many areas to get the ball to reverse,” he said. Kohli and Pujara had put on a 226 runs for the third wicket to bring India out of the trouble after the hosts were reduced to 22 for 2 inside five overs.
“I thought the wicket was tough to bowl on. The outfield was heavy and there will be some sore legs on Friday. The two guys (Kohli and Pujara) went about their business and showed they are world class players. They made it very difficult to bowl at them,” Anderson said.
“We thought the way the new ball played in the morning it was the easiest time to bat as the ball didn’t swing that much.” Anderson (3/44) was the pick of the lot for English bowlers and gave crucial breakthroughs in the form of Pujara and later dismissed Ajinkya Rahane with the second new ball.
The English pacer hoped that they can utilise the early morning conditions to their advantage on the second day.