Kevin Pietersen became a laughing stock when he predicted England would score 450 on Day 1 of the first Test against India. His prediction fell flat as the visiting team was bowled out for 246 runs, failing to give any sort of fight. Their bowling was equally disappointing as Yashasvi Jaiswal single-handedly destroyed the rival spinners.
Pietersen was so shattered that he lost all the confidence in England spinners just after a day in Hyderabad.
The visiting team hoped to put India on the back foot by unleashing Bazball, but Jaiswal got the attacking cricket brand going. The southpaw was severe against debutant Tom Hartley. He hit two sixes in his first over, and the bowler conceded 63 runs from just 8 overs.
Jack Leach was impressive, but the host nation put up 119/1 and is only 127 runs behind England’s total. Yashasvi would like to take India ahead of England’s total on Day 2 of the game.
KP recalled England’s successful tour of India in 2012 when Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar outfoxed the Indian batters to win the series for their team. Pietersen said that the current English spinners couldn’t get enough turn.
“My big concern is England’s spinners. When we won in India in 2012, Swann and Panesar bowled better than Ashwin, Harbhajan, and Pragyan Ojha. However, I haven’t seen that kind of performance from the current spinners. I don’t see the spinners getting spin in Hyderabad. On the other hand, India bowlers were excellent,” Pietersen added.
Ben Stokes was the only English batter who scored a fifty for the visitors. He managed 70 runs off 88 balls, with 6 fours and 3 sixes. Ashwin and Jadeja took 3 wickets each, while Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah dismissed two batters each.