Ravi Shastri confident of India’s solid comeback in second Test against England

Earlier, the opening match between the two sides ended in a dramatic draw after skipper Virat Kohli (unbeaten at 49) and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (unbeaten at 32) defended stoutly and saved the blushes for their side.

“If you look at only aspect where we only let ourselves down was catching”.

“We need to catch well. That’s something that we are really looking forward to correct in this game”, he added.

He further said: “It is important to convince yourself you can negotiate what’s thrown at you”.

Cook’s correct call in Rajkot was the first time India skipper Virat Kohli has lost the toss as Test captain, and his counterpart hopes that broken run continues.

“In a way the team situation freed me up a bit when we were pushing on and it came back a bit better, but it is nice to score runs when maybe you’re not quite at your best”. “Good cricket wicket”, Cook said.

Cook also lauded the way his spinners bowled as a group. Despite failing with the bowl Ashwin made a vital contribution with his batting in a match saving innings. His fellow spinners Moeen Ali and Zafar Ansari took one wicket each.

“He s (Hameed) an unbelievable player, pushing me closer to retirement”. Today he scored a hundred (106) and in the first innings he scored 70 plus (76 off 85 balls).

‘We had it pretty clear in our heads that KL is our number one choice, along with Vijay, ‘ said Kohli. “Adil stepped up another level”.

Batsman Joe Root, who scored 124 in the first innings, said the draw is frustrating and will work hard for the nect game.

“Slight frustration, credit to Cooky and Has for setting the game”.

The pitch for the Second Test is expected to take significantly more turn than the one in Rajkot.

However, Cook says both he and Bayliss now face a tough selection decision before the Second Test starts tomorrow after Anderson, who last played in the final Test of the summer against Pakistan at The Oval, impressed during prolonged bowling spells in the nets this week. We are doing some good stuff at the moment.

“The way the guys played should give us plenty of confidence – batting and bowling”.

In this first Test, on top of Hameed’s emergence, four England batsmen made centuries, while England’s slow bowlers more than matched their Indian counterparts. In four-day Ranji Trophy matches played in Rajkot, teams have gone on to post totals in excess of 550 on several occasions in the past – including in the most-recent match played there in November 2015. He remains side on, he leaves studiously, has very good footwork and looks to have excellent judgement.