IND W Vs ENG W: A 2-3 Test Match Series Would Have Been Better, Says England Skipper Heather Knight
A few minutes after her team suffered an embarrassing 347-run defeat to India inside two-and-a-half days of the four-day Test, getting out for 136 and 131 in two innings after being hammered for 410 runs on the opening day by the hosts, Knight said they have learned their lessons from the first Test England played in India after 2005.
"It's the first time we have bowled in a Test match in these conditions. So I think if we had another Test match, we had a sort of two three-match series, I think we would have done far better," said Heather Knight whose team had won the T20I series 2-1.
The 32-year-old veteran of a dozen Test matches, who is one of the most experienced players in the longer format in women's cricket, said they have learned both how to bat and bowl in these conditions.
"Yeah, it was a good lesson to our bowlers about how to bowl in these conditions. And obviously with the spin like it was quite extreme. I think we learned a lot from how India played in their first innings, how they found that right level between attack and defense and tried to put pressure back on the bowlers. I think we learned a lot from that. Tried to take it into today a little bit, but I think India bowled well. They had an outstanding day today and really suited these conditions in how they executed their plans," said Knight.
Asked how she rated the pitch on the DY Patil Stadium said it was not her job to rate it and said it was not the sole reason for their defeat.
"I would have batted if I'd won the toss, but that's not the reason that we lost the game. I think it just deteriorated a little bit. A little bit more, a little bit faster than we thought it would do. I think it was okay to bat on. Pretty good to bat on Day One. But yeah, it was I guess hard for the quicks when your knicks don't carry and in the slips, we had to get so close to sort of feel like you're in with a chance of it carrying," said Knight.
She did concede that the wicket deteriorated a little faster than they expected.
"I think it probably deteriorated a little bit faster than we expected. I think it was reasonably good in the first innings to bat on. But yeah, I think today they bowled outstandingly. I think they showed exactly how to play in these conditions, as you'd expect. They just managed to get a little bit of nibble. It was the seam movement this morning when you hit a good area. That made it quite tough. And I think that accounted for obviously a few wickets in our top order. I thought Pooja (Vastrakar) in particular was outstanding. Just the late seam that she got off the wicket," said the England captain.
Asked about the positives for England from this tour, Knight said she was satisfied with the outcome of the T20I series and that it would help them as the next two World Cups in white ball cricket will be held in the sub-continent -- the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh next year and the ODI World Cup in India in 2025.
"We were at our best in the first T10I and in the third, we expoed some of our players to these conditions. So, that was a positive. Apart from that, we learned a lot about how to play Test cricket in these conditions," she added.