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India look to bounce back in the second Test against England after suffering a dramatic 28-run defeat at the hands of Ben Stokes' brigade. The second Test match is scheduled to be played from February 2 in Visakhapatnam.
KS Bharat confident of India's comeback
On the eve of the second Test against England, India's wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat, who will be playing in front of his home crowd, made Team India's intentions clear for the showdown in Visakhapatnam.
In the pre-match press conference, Bharat said,"Playing in front of your home crowd is special. I am looking at this as any other Test match. There is something to look forward to. We are looking to bounce back. There will be lot of noises. Good and bad. You have to be in the present moment. I feel proud to be playing in front of my home crowds. We have to first win the Test match."
On being asked about how to tackle the England bowlers, Bharat said that India have a set pattern and they don't play the bowlers but the balls.
“As batters, we have a set pattern. We don't play the bowlers, we play the ball. It can be experienced or inexperienced. There is nothing like inexperience. You have to give credit that they bowled well. We backed our plans. We have a set plan. We are good at bouncing back. Five-Test series is a long way,” he further said on the press conference on February 1.
Here are the excerpts from KS Bharat's press conference:
On Vizag Pitch
“To be honest, I have not looked at the wicket. Whatever condition it is, you have to play good five days. We are looking forward to it.”
England batting inputs with Indian captain?
“Ollie Pope played very well. In our team meetings, we spoke about how we could do well. We have certain plans. The way how they played, the reverse and all, we are working on that”.
Virat, Jadeja, Rahul out how much of a difference?
“Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul's experience definitely counts. We have played a lot of domestic cricket. We are ready. The bench strength is ready to step up.”
Indian batters practising sweep?
“Playing in India, we play a lot of cricket on these tracks. It is not like we do not know how to play the sweep, paddle, reverse sweep. We, as a batter, take a call. We are told to play with freedom. We did play some reverse in the 1st Test. If the team demands to play in a certain way, we do it. We all have set plans and we look to do well as a unit.”
Message to the rest of the team?
“The atmosphere is relaxed. We are not panicking. It is a long series and we have played that in the past. We want to focus on things that we want to do well. We are definitely looking to play good cricket. That is the message from the captain.”
On Reverse sweep?
“It is interesting from behind the stumps. Being a wicketkeeper, it is fun while playing reverse sweeps and sweeps as it keeps me in the game. If I can take a catch, I am happy to contribute. I always dreamt of keeping wickets for India. You practice as a keeper in a certain way in India. It does not impact my keeping.”
Comfortable keeping with Ashwin, Jadeja?
“There is nothing like comfort when playing sport. You should never think you are comfortable. The key thing to be in the present. You have to be prepared all the time. There is no complacent mindset. I like to keep it simple.”
On his Performance
“Performance is work in progress. I am not stressing on numbers. I do not think on those lines.”
Change in batting style
“Nothing is concrete. We try and give our best. We focus on playing good cricket in 5 days. I do not stress on how the wicket is. I try and give my 100 percent. I do not restrict myself to certain numbers.”
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