IND vs ENG | Should have got a few more runs; 200 would have been competitive, states Zak Crawley
Zak Crawley stood out for England
|BCCI
Zak Crawley, the only English batsman to have shown a fight, stated that the visitors should have got themselves to 200 runs, which he believes would have been competitive. The opener also insisted that umpiring in the game has to be more consistent, in terms of usage of technology.
On a frustrating day of play, nothing seemingly went in Englandâs favour, after they won the toss and elected to bat first in the newly inaugurated Narendra Modi Stadium. While their batting looked solid in the first hour of play, as the day progressed and spinners got into action, they folded like a pack of cards, with Zak Crawley, the only batsman to have shown any kind of fight with a gritty half-century.Â
Around him, however, the batting unit was beaten by the lack of spin in the day-night clash, against a top-quality Indian side, with nine out of the ten wickets picked by spinners. At the end of the dayâs action, Zak Crawley, stated that the Three Lions should have got more runs on board, at least 200 which would have made the Test competitive. With a terrible total on board, Englandâs first-innings lead was almost wiped by the Indians, who batted one session and a few overs.Â
"It was easy to bat against the seamers, never easy to bat against spinners in these conditions. We should have got a few runs; 200 would have been a nice and competitive score," he said in the online presser, reported TOI.
"If we had got a few more runs, it might have helped our bowlers out a lot more. At the moment, we are probably behind the game but there is plenty of time to fight back with our bowling line-up," he added.
âIt is always nice to score a fifty in a Test match but you want to kick on and score more. For my first Test back, it was nice to get some runs. I think it is easier to bat during the day (in day-night Tests) but it is different over here to what it is in England.â
Englandâs terrible night didnât end there, with the umpires seemingly frustrating them more with their use of the technology. In an hour of constant menace to the third umpire, England managed to trouble the Indian batsmen. However, to their horror, the third umpireâs inconsistent use of technology, which let them down, as per Crawley.Â
âWhen we batted, Jack had one where it didn't quite carry and it seemed like they looked at it from five or six different angles. When we were fielding, it seemed like they looked at it from one angle. That's where the frustrations lie," he added.
âI can't say whether they were out or not out, but I think the frustrations lie with not checking more thoroughly,â he concluded.
