“If team demands us to play in certain way, then we are up to it”: KS Bharat ahead of 2nd England Test

Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India]: Ahead of the second Test match against England, India wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat on Thursday stated there is no panic in the injury-plagued hosts’ camp despite falling to visitors in the first game of the five-match series. 

Bharat said that the squad has devised fresh tactics to thwart England’s aggressive approach, one of which is employing the sweep shot when necessary during the second Test in Visakhapatnam. Bharat claimed the team had improved since the first game of the series when England staged an amazing comeback to win by a margin of 28 runs. 
Due of the injuries, India will be missing top-order batter KL Rahul and star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the second Test. 

“In our team meetings, we spoke about the things we could have done better and yes, we certainly have few plans. (We are) definitely looking at the way how they went about the first game, playing some reverse. That’s something we have definitely worked on,” Bharat said in a pre-match press conference. 
“After the game, the atmosphere is absolutely relaxed. They told us not to panic, which we are not. But then the instruction is very clear, it’s a long Test series and we have played a lot of series like this in the past,” he added. 

The wicketkeeper-batter discussed India’s batting strategy in the opening Test match.

India was unduly conservative in the game’s second innings after throwing away their wickets in the first. Bharat said they discussed the batting strategy in the dressing room. 
“Playing in India, we play a lot of cricket on these tracks. It’s not that we don’t know how to sweep, reverse sweep or pedal, but on that particular day depending on the situation of the team, we as batters take our calls. And it is very clear to us to bat with freedom. We also practised in the reverse before the first game. But playing out in the centre, it’s the batters’ individual plan. If the team demands us to play in a certain way, then we are up to it,” Bharat said. 

Bharat defended India’s batting collapse against England’s debutant spinner Tom Hartley in the second innings of the game and also gave credit to the bowler for his effective bowling in Hyderabad. 

“We don’t play the bowlers, we play the ball. On any given day, it can be experienced or inexperienced (bowler), there is nothing like inexperienced in cricket. On that particular day, if someone bowls well, you have to give credit to them,” said the India keeper. 

The visitors are 1-0 up in the series after a 28-run win in Hyderabad and will face hosts on Friday at the Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in the second match of the series.