IND vs ENG 2024: “England were brilliant over the last two days, India were pretty ordinary”- Anil Kumble

Former Indian captain Anil Kumble feels England was brilliant over the last days of the Hyderabad Test whereas India was pretty ordinary. India had their noses in front on the first two days but England was able to bounce back in style.

India took a massive lead of 190 runs in the first innings but England did a fantastic job in the second innings. Ollie Pope, the vice-captain, led from the front as he scored a magnificent knock of 196 runs for the visitors to help them post 420 runs on the board.

Ergo, the tourists were able to take a lead of 230 runs and skittled India out for 202 to register a memorable win by 28 runs on Sunday.

Pope played with aplomb and took the attack against the Indian spinners by making the most of sweep and reverse sweep in difficult conditions. Furthermore, debutant Tom Hartley registered figures of 7-62 in the second essay to help England win a historic Test match.

Anil Kumble said while talking to JioCinema, “England were brilliant over the last two days. India were pretty ordinary. In the field, you could see that heads were dropping down while fielding. But credit to England, the way they batted, the way they came and bowled.

Kumble reckons the hosts could have been more positive with the bat in the second essay when they were chasing 231.

“India could certainly have been more positive in their batting approach in the second innings. Once Rohit Sharma got out and Ravindra Jadeja was run out, the course of the match changed,” said Kumble.

Meanwhile, Tom Hartley was taken to the cleaners by Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first innings but the left-arm orthodox spinner made a fantastic comeback in the second dig.

“Tom Hartley, a debutant, gets hit for a six on his first ball. Then, the first five overs he was going at about seven runs an over. To come back and bat really well, take two wickets in the first innings, and seven in the second and win the match for England was absolutely fantastic. England have done exceptionally well,” said Kumble.

The second Test match between India and England will be played at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam from 2nd February.