India vs England 2021: “We know it’s going to be challenging” – Ben Foakes says England expect ‘turn from first ball’


India vs England 2021: “We know it’s going to be challenging” – Ben Foakes says England expect ‘turn from first ball’

Ben Foakes

Ben Foakes

Ben Foakes’ wicket-keeping skills in the ongoing series against India have been nothing short of brilliant. On pitches where the ball was turning from day one, Foakes has shown exceptional skills to keep wickets. Now as he goes into the final Test match, he is prepared for the worst.

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“Obviously, we got thoroughly outplayed. Those were tricky conditions, but they played well. They have a couple of class spinners and we did not have answers to them so I think going forward, we have to be good enough to counter that to score big runs on the board,” he said during an online interview.

“I was at training today and from the look of it I think it’ll be pretty similar. I don’t think we’re concerned. We know what we’re going to get and I guess they’re pushing their conditions to the extremities. We know it’s going to spin considerably from ball one so it’s about trying to find a way to play well in those conditions and understand they’re going to be challenging,” Foakes added.

‘Hardest pitches I’ve kept on’ – Ben Foakes

Ben Foakes (Photo : Getty Images)
Ben Foakes

“The last two games have been the hardest pitches I’ve kept on. They’ve been challenging and the last game, I think it was to do with the pink ball, the amount it was skidding on or spun, I’d probably never experienced a wicket like that before. So it was a good challenge to keep on and I guess it was one I enjoyed,” Foakes further said.

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Talking about England’s mindset, “(We’re) trying to keep a positive, clear mindset because when you’re struggling your judgement can get clouded and things can go badly. It’s about trying to keep a clear mind, stick to the gameplans and be slightly more positive at times if the situation dictates, but trying to come up with a game plan that potentially works on that surface now we’ve had experience of what it was like in the last game,” he said.

“We’re still in a position to draw (the series), we are in with a chance of a pretty awesome achievement if we win this last one. It’s going to be difficult knowing the kind of surface we’re going to play on but we have just got to be better than we were in the last game,” Foakes signed off.

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