Following England’s 28-run win over India in the first Test match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday, former cricketer Monty Panesar said that Rohit Sharma was ‘clueless.’ Speaking exclusively to ANI, Monty said that England’s win over India was very “big” and that no one imagined it would have been possible. He added that the hosts need to stop giving so much freedom to the English players. The former England spinner also said that if Virat Kohli was in the team then he would have charged the visitors.
He added that England would still play with the fear of failure in the upcoming four Test matches.
“It is a very big victory, no one even imagined this was even possible. Everyone thought that England would lose after a 190 deficit but Ollie Pope had a brilliant inning one of the best innings we have seen in a long time and Rohit Sharma was clueless. India need to stop giving the freedom that the England players are getting. If Virat Kohli was playing he would have been in the faces of these England players and told them ‘Hey, do it again let’s see how good you are’. This is an England team who are not scared of losing, they don’t scare if they lose. In the next four games, they (England) would still play with the fear of failure,” Monty told ANI.
He further added that England’s 28-run win in the first Test match over India felt like they had won the World Cup.
“It was one of the most famous victories England have ever produced overseas. This is a big news in England. It feels like we have won the World Cup,” he added.
The 41-year-old added that the England team are learning from India by seeing the “bowlers ball, they watch how they bat and their body language”. He further added that the English squad looked at India’s weaknesses and then they understood how they beat the hosts.
He pointed out how Ben Stokes backed Tom Hartley even after a sloppy performance in the first inning and later the English spinner shined in the second inning.
“I think England is a team who are learning from India, they watch India, they see how the bowlers ball, they watch how they bat and their body language. They look at any weakness in the Indian team and then they start understanding that they can beat India. I will give you an example, Axar Patel was not mentally tough and dropped catches. On the other hand, look at Tom Hartley, in the first inning Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed him so many fours but Ben Stokes backed him, his captaincy was brilliant and Hartley’s second-inning bowling performance was brilliant,” he added.
