India finished Day 1 of the second Test match in Vizag with 336 runs on board for the loss of 6 wickets. The hosts will be eyeing a strong finish to their innings and would hope for a 400+ total on the second day of the game. Former England cricketer Michael Atherton however believes that Ben Stokes’ team will not be spooked by a big total and would rather back themselves to hit a huge score themselves.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Atherton said that a 400+ total will not frighten England given the conditions in Vizag. The pitch at Vizag looked much better to bat on than the previous one in Hyderabad. Yashasvi Jaiswal remained unbeaten at 179* and would back himself to get a double hundred early on Day 2.
“While Jaiswal’s there, India will have designs on a score of 400, 450,” Atherton said on Sky Sports.
“That’s never a bad first-innings score, but it’s not the kind of one that will frighten England,” he added.
Atherton backed the England players to score aggressively, taking a leaf out of Ollie Pope’s book in the first Test.
“You always look at conditions and wonder how things will go. It’s certainly less of a troubling pitch than it was in Hyderabad in that first innings. England’s batters, having taken confidence from the way Ollie Pope and the others played [in the first Test], will be pretty confident of getting a score themselves,” Atherton said about England batters.
“You’ll see England playing aggressively because that’s they’re committed to playing that way and quite differently from the way India play. It’s a good contrast in styles really between India’s top six and England’s,” he added.
