Holder India mastering English conditions
India’s players are feeling increasingly comfortable in English conditions, having handed out hammerings to both New Zealand and Bangladesh in their warm-up fixtures.
The Champions Trophy holder delivered a thumping 240-run win in its final warm-up match against Bangladesh at The Oval to follow up the 45-run DLS Method victory over New Zealand at the same ground on Sunday.
The star of India’s batting was Dinesh Karthik, who hit 94 of his team’s 324 before retiring.
“There was a bit of cloud cover throughout the day today and very small pockets of the sun being out, so there was a bit in it for the fast bowlers,” he said.
“It had a bit of spongy bounce. It wasn’t that easy for shot-making but overall I think we played some good cricket, we ticked a lot of boxes and it’s good to see that happening.
“For me it was an important match: with the captain and coach watching me bat and seeing where I stand it’s very important on a personal note. And I think it’s important to get a feel of batting back in England. It’s a great place to play some cricket.
“You have to be aware of the conditions. If the sun is out it’s pretty beautiful to bat, in fact it’s better than India because the ball bounces more and comes on to the bat.
“If there is a bit of cloud cover then there’s a bit of swing immediately; you can see immediately things changing and you can see the way the game progresses, the game flow with the sun being out or not. So that’s something you need to be aware of.”
Karthik made some necessary adjustments after his previous innings, when he made a nine-ball duck against the Black Caps.
“In the last game I was a little nervous going in, even though Virat tried his best to calm my nerves it was a little difficult. I was back in the blue shirt after a long time; I was just very over-excited probably and it was one of those days where the bowler and the keeper were just playing and I was standing in between not doing much, I was getting beaten and it was pretty embarrassing out there. I worked on my batting a little bit yesterday and got a hit and felt better today.”
Hardik Pandya made an unbeaten 80 from 54 balls and the 23-year-old all-rounder is quickly adjusting to conditions on his first tour of England.
“It’s never easy – you need to play to the situation. When I batted it was slightly overcast so I had to take time, and eventually, once you spend time at the wicket in England you can score runs in the end. That was the plan and that’s what we did.”
And, according to Hardik, the adjustments are just as pronounced when it comes to bowling.
“It’s very different to what we do in India. I thought I should have bowled slightly fuller in the first game compared to the Indian length that we are used to. The quicker you adapt the better it is for the team.
“Both Bhuvi (Kumar) and Umesh (Yadav) bowled really well, it was pretty amazing to see the ball flying like that and batsmen getting beaten like that. They are adapting pretty well. They have played here before, so they knew what lengths to bowl to get wickets.”
India will be hoping to put its stellar preparation to good use in its first match of the tournament against Pakistan at Edgbaston on Sunday June 4.