'You can't just do it in fits and bursts' - Steven Finn and Alastair Cook want more consistency from England
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ByOli Gent
Updated 25/02/2024 at 14:24 GMT
TNT Sports experts Steven Finn and Alastair Cook have spoken about the need for consistency after England suffered a tricky third day of the fourth Test against India in Ranchi. The tourists were skittled for just 145 by a Ravichandran Ashwin-fuelled home side, with Ashwin adding another 'fifer' to his collection as India reclaimed control. It now puts pressure on England's bowlers on day four.
RANCHI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 25: England captain Ben Stokes leaves the field at stumps on day three of the 4th Test Match between India and England at JSCA International Stadium Complex on February 25, 2024 in Ranchi, India.
Image credit: Getty Images
TNT Sports experts Steven Finn and Alastair Cook have said England need consistency after they suffered a tricky third day of the fourth Test against India.
England were skittled for 145 by a determined Indian bowling display - led by the five-wicket hero Ravichandran Ashwin.
It leaves the hosts needing 192 runs to claim victory in the fourth Test in Ranchi, which England had started so well with Shoaib Bashir’s four wickets on Saturday keeping the tourists ahead on day two.
But it was an Ashwin-fuelled Indian fightback that has seen Ben Stokes’ side slip onto the back foot, piling the pressure on England’s frontline bowlers to halt the Indian chase.
In the TNT Sports studio, England’s all-time top run scorer Cook and former pace bowler Finn spoke about consistency after a tough day for the tourists.
"We’ve seen today what a lot of people were worried about going into this series with the match-up of the two teams,” Cook said.
He continued: "Indian spinners on a turning wicket causing chaos for the England batters, and when England get the opportunity to bowl on the same wicket not having the same impact. For England to win a game of cricket, they have to be so good for the four days.
"Against this Indian side, who can be slightly off it but still in the game - if England are slightly off it, it will cost them. And for two and a bit days, England have been really good, but just this moment in the last three hours of cricket, England haven’t quite been on it and India have piled through that door and left [them] a mountain to climb.”
Finn, who appeared in 36 Tests for England, emphasised the need for consistency across a long series.
"What a difference a day makes,” Finn said. "Yesterday we were sat here thinking that England were completely in the box seat, [needing to] mop up three wickets in the morning and then take the target on a deteriorating wicket towards an unmanageable total.
"But India just put their foot down, played the situation perfectly and said, ‘No, that’s not happening on [our] watch'.
"You just knew that someone as good as Ravi Ashwin with 500 Test wickets was going to come in and have an impact in the series.
"We felt that he had been quiet up until this point, but then he got the new ball in his hand, warmed into his spell, and [after that], boy, it was dangerous.
"As a touring team here, you have to be very good over a long, long period of time - and it’s a long series as well. To remain in the series and fighting, you have to do a lot of things well. You can’t just do it in fits and bursts."
England’s low total with the bat means that the onus is on the bowlers to come up trumps with some crucial wickets.
That, however, could heap pressure on the younger and more inexperienced spinners, Tom Hartley and Bashir.
"We saw a little bit of pressure get to Tom Hartley at the end,” said Cook. "He knows the importance of that 25 minutes and we saw four or five half-volleys and a full toss in three or four overs, compared to that first innings where he was outstanding with his length.
"It’s about getting used to bowling under that pressure. It is as much mental [as technical]. Is there anything different mentally from bowling in the first innings when the pressure is off and you can bowl and maybe pick up two or three wickets as a bonus? But how many times do you get thrown the ball as a spinner in the fourth innings on a turning wicket and the captain goes, go on, bowl them out?
"That’s a very different pressure to be able to handle. Normally, there’s only one of you, but there’s two to share the load [here]. It’s normally one person that’s got to stand up and deliver that skill. These guys haven’t experienced it.”
Finn, who took 125 Test wickets for England, believes that Stokes’ presence in the dressing room could be what the spinners need to quash their nerves.
"There’s no better dressing room [for the spinners] to have that pressure upon you," Finn explained. "It can be quite overawing sometimes in the fourth innings if you’re there and all eyes are on you to try and produce a bit of magic for England to find the win.
"Ben Stokes and that calming presence will calm their minds and bodies so that, hopefully, they can see the best of themselves."
'Tomorrow will be the true test’ for starlet Bashir
How, though, will 20-year-old Bashir cope?
The Somerset spinner starred on day two with a four-wicket haul that included bowling Yashasvi Jaiswal, but Finn believes that the youngster’s sternest test is still to come.
"He’s got the fundamentals to make a good Test-match spinner," Finn said. "He’s got a repeatable action, the height, and these massively long fingers that rip around the ball that you need to get that purchase from it.
"What I’ve really enjoyed about him is his temperament; his ability to handle the pressure coming into a huge Test series knowing that he’s playing as one of two frontline spinners. It just hasn’t looked like it has affected him at all. Tomorrow will be the true test, but from what I’ve seen so far, it does look like he has a bright future.”
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