Alastair Cook lauds Indian bowlers for their fantastic effort on Day 1

England captain Joe Root won the toss for the fifth time in the series and had no hesitation in batting first on a flat deck. Though Virat Kohli hoped at the toss that they can exploit the conditions in the first couple of hours, the fears of a long outing on the field left the fans worried with the hosts’ opening stand not giving it away. But the Indian pace attack and the lone spinner Ravindra Jadeja bowled beautifully and never gave up only to reap rich rewards in the last session and finished the day on top.

Alastair Cook, in his final Test match, was the best batsman for his team as he grind down for 190 balls to score 71 runs. However, even he felt that the Indian bowlers kept them tied with some fantastic bowling throughout the day. The lines and lengths from them were absolutely impeccable throughout the day. Both Cook and Moeen Ali were dropped in the second session but the visitors made sure that they didn’t let the game drift away from them with some incisive bowling.

It was unbelievable spell

Alastair Cook, while speaking to the Sky Sports after the end of day’s play, admitted that the opposition bowled well to restrict them to 198/7 at stumps. He also recalled that he was allowed to play his favourite shots only once in the day which was the testament to their exceptional bowling effort.

“I thought the way the Indians bowled was fantastic. I think I played one cut and one pull shot all day. A lot of credit to them. It was an unbelievable spell, I was facing Jadeja at the other end and quite happy! We found it hard to know which way it was going,” the veteran said.

However, the 33-year-old also praised his partner Ali for showing the character during that period when England’s new number three played and missed almost million times. Mohammed Shami was troubling him a lot and the bowler was eventually frustrated as he didn’t edge even one.

“One thing Mo did pretty well, yes he was playing and missing, but he wasn’t curtain-railing as much, he was playing the line. There’s sometimes a skill in playing and missing, I know it’s a bit of a funny thing, but he wasn’t moving his hands as much. Sometimes in Test Cricket, you’ve got to just suck it up and you need a bit of luck,” Cook added.

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