India v England: We’re still in contention, insists Samit Patel
India v England: Samit Patel is convinced the tourists are still in with a chance of winning the first Test in Ahmedabad
Samit Patel believes England are still in contention despite losing three late wickets on day two of the first Test in Ahmedabad.
Replying to India’s first innings total of 521-8 declared, England lost Nick Compton, night watchman James Anderson and Jonathan Trott in just three overs
But Patel says the tourists still have plenty to come in the form of class batsmen on day three.
“We’ve got two world-class batsmen at the crease, Belly [Ian Bell] still to come, myself and Matty P [Matt Prior] – a lot of batting,” Patel told Sky Sports.
“There’s no question about how long we can bat. We’ve got the same potential of batting as India have – and we’ve got to keep believing that.”
The Nottinghamshire all-rounder picked up Yuvraj Singh earlier in day to record his only wicket in the innings.
Graeme Swann, meanwhile, collected his 14th five-wicket haul and was England’s tour de force amongst an otherwise poor bowling display.
“Sometimes you have to give credit to the [opposition] batsmen,” Patel added. “Sehwag played outstandingly well yesterday; Pujara carried on today, and Yuvraj [Singh] played as he does. They’re good players of spin.
“As the Indians showed, if you bat a long time, you can wear teams down. That’s what they did. And Patel feels if England’s batsmen can show a similar application the tourists will benefit.
“You have to earn the right to get in first, and I think Cookie [Alastair Cook] and Kev [Kevin Pietersen] in the morning have got to set their stall out and bat well.
“We’ve put in the hard yards; we know what we can do. We’re good players of spin. Tomorrow, we hope we can show what we’re made out of.”
“We’ve got some quality batsmen still in the shed to come in, guys that can go out and score big hundreds.”
