Indian bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has spoken about the Indian team’s poor performance on Day 2 of the ongoing fourth Test in England. He admitted that they didn’t expect the tone to be so low on Day 2.

India did not have a great outing on Day 2 of the ongoing tournament. England have surely put them on the defensive in the game and are now looking for favorites to win the game. The hosts finished the visitors’ innings with 353 runs and were expected to have a better performance with the bat.

However, that was not the case as the Indian batsmen faced a terrible collapse. After captain Rohit Sharma (2) got out, Yashasvi Jaiswal (73) and Shubman Gill (38) held the fort at that point, it looked like India would take the lead due to the way the duo batted.

However, Shubman Gill’s wicket changed the fortunes of the Indian team. They suffered a terrible collapse when Rajat Patidar (17), Ravindra Jadeja (12), Sarfaraz Khan (12) and Ravichandran Ashwin (1) lost wickets early as the hosts were reduced to 177/6.

The pitch played a pivotal role in the Indian collapse. The ball remained extremely low and the batsmen had no idea what the surface would look like after the pitch. England spinner Shoaib Bashir was the pick of the bowlers as he bagged four scalps.

Paras Mhambrey, while talking about the pitch, did not expect the pitch to play so low on Day 2. He said that they were aware that the pitch would play slow but they did not expect the variable bounce. Speaking to reporters, he explained:

“From the few games we have seen here previously, generally the nature of the wicket gets slower and slower as the days go on. In the past too, in a couple of games played here, it became slower and was also on the lower side.

“So we expected that. But to be honest, we didn’t expect the field to play so low on Day 2. I think a couple of balls stayed low in the first innings as well. That’s what we didn’t expect. “We expected it to slow down, but not the variable rebound that we have seen in recent days.”

Don’t think that places are something we can control – Paras Mhambrey

Paras Mhambrey further pointed out that the Indian team did not ask for any specific pitch before coming to Ranchi for the fourth Test. He believes the pitch doesn’t change range because there is a variable bounce. Speaking about the same, he explained:

“I don’t think places are something we can control. This was a spot assigned for the series. The way the wicket is developed here is similar. It hasn’t always been a change of rank. I wouldn’t call this a range change because there was a variable bounce. “I don’t think there are too many sharp-spinning balls or unplayable deliveries.”

After being reduced to 177/7, Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav got the team out of trouble. They added 42 runs together and ensured that India surpassed 200 runs. While the keeper-batsman remained unbeaten on 30 runs, the spinner batted on 17 on Day 2. They would hope to bring India closer to England’s total.