Mumbai: England might be at a comfortable position against India after the end of second day’s play in the second Test here, but Graeme Swann lot needs to be done before in remaining of the match.
“I wouldn’t say we are in a particularly strong position in the game. We are in a good position but we are not at that stage where we can say that we will win this one. We have got a lot of hard work ahead of us,” said Swann who took four wickets in the first innings of the match.
England scored 178 for two, after India scored 327 in the first innings. The now trail India by 149 runs.
“We are still 150 runs behind so we won’t be talking about milestones and centuries and things like that. We know we have to build as big a lead as possible, so that we can have a crack and win this game,” Swann said.
Talking about his spin partner Monty Panesar who was the wrecker in chief for England with his figures of 5-129, he said, “Monty bowled magnificently on Friday. It was great to see. I am a big advocate of playing with two spinners. I love playing with Monty. I grew up in North Hampton when he was first starting and I just love it when he takes a wicket.”
“That face like a man possessed when he got Sachin Tendulkar out yesterday, I have never seen a man so wound up like this one. He is brilliant,” he added.
Swann also praised Cheteswar Pujara and Alastair Cook for stand –out performance so far in the tournament and said, “Cook is the new Don Bradman (if Pujara is the new Wall). Cookie is Cookie. I have said before the series that his batting could blossom as a captain as it did in the one-day arena, then we would be one lucky team. So far, he has proved thus. He has batted magnificently in the three innings he had so far and, touchwood, he has got a long way to go in this one (Cook was unbeaten with 87 at stumps today).”
“Pujara has been the stand out batsman for India so far. He uses his feet very well and he plays the ball on the merit. I think the runs he scored speak for him. It was nice to finally dismiss him. It doesn’t normally take three innings of a Test series to get a man out but we have done it now so hopefully that has taken the finger out of the dough.
“He has got a game plan that works for him. He doesn’t hit the ball in the air, he hits it along the ground. He uses his feet very well. He is a fine player and he is in good form at the moment,” added the off spinner.
By Indian Sports News Network