IND vs ENG | We are in India and we expect the ball to spin; no complaints about that, opines Jofra Archer
Archer has no problems with the spinning surfaces
|BCCI
Quashing all doubts on the conditions and the spin, Jofra Archer opined that playing in India, the England team expects the ball to spin and there’s no complaint about that from within the team. He also added that the only advice Joe Root gave during the third Test was to go-out all guns blazing.
While the rest of the world seemed to be hell-bent on talking about the pitches, the conditions on offer for the spinners in the ongoing Test series between India and England, Jofra Archer and the English team remain unfazed. Several times during the series, the visitors have come out and admitted that they haven’t quite lived up to their expectations and standards, instead of blaming the conditions on offer. Similarly, after the third Test, people expected complaints from the visitors but none were there on offer.Â
One of England’s integral part of the red-ball setup, Jofra Archer opined that the Three Lions are in India and they expect the ball to spin. While admitting that it was a given that these conditions would favour spinners, he insisted that neither he nor the team has any sort of complaints about the pitch or the conditions on offer. He also added that India have bowled better than England, to get a favourable result for themselves.Â
“Talk of the pitch we played on in the 10-wicket defeat has all been from the outside and whatever is prepared we have to bat on it. India bowled well on it, that’s all I can say. It is not something that we have spoken about between ourselves and I’m not sure there are any complaints over its quality from the England team,” Archer wrote in his column for Daily Mail.Â
“Let’s be honest, we are in India and we have to expect the ball to spin. That’s fine. Although it doesn’t mean that batting is easy.I have always been of the belief that whatever the conditions, you just crack on with it. It doesn’t matter if the ball is spinning or bouncing,” he added.Â
Opening the lid on their aggressive display with the bat in the second innings of the third Test, Archer revealed that Root advised the English boys to go out and play an aggressive brand of cricket.Â
“And so, ahead of the second innings, Joe Root encouraged us all to be fearless in our approach. He wanted us to realise we had nothing to lose and not to go into our shells, and he urged us to keep the same mentality for the rest of this series,” he added.
Archer also stated that it was important for the visitors to adapt themselves to the varying conditions on offer, which he believes is a challenge for any top-level cricketer, which would improve the team’s performance.Â
“Draws were no good to us in our quest to make the World Test Championship final, so it was important to be positive. That was just one game and who knows what lies ahead for the final Test? It could be quite a bit different and we have to find ways of adapting to whatever is thrown at us — that is the challenge for any top-level cricketer, wherever they play in the world,” he concluded.
