IND vs ENG: ‘We never gave India…’ – England cricketer on team’s strategy

IND vs ENG: 'We never gave India...' - England cricketer on team's strategy

England wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith has revealed England鈥檚 strategy after their stunning five-wicket win over India in Leeds. England are leading the five-match series 1-0.鈥淚t was so measured and controlled throughout that we never gave them (India) a sniff. The really important thing is for the team to be quite ruthless: once you鈥檙e on top, try to put them to bed,鈥 the 24-year-old, who hit the winning runs at Headingley, was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.The second match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy will be played at Edgbaston, starting from July 2.Talking about the batting philosophy of England鈥檚 batting, Smith said: 鈥淏y keeping a core group of people throughout that cycle, what鈥檚 happened is they鈥檝e matured and learned and almost pushed their limits of what they can do.鈥濃淲e鈥檝e seen some really special stuff over the course of the three years 鈥 500 in a day and chasing down these totals has been incredibly pleasing and special for those guys, showing what can be done. This was a great example of where the team have got to, that we didn鈥檛 give India a chance.鈥淢aybe in the past we would have still played that same way, but might have had a collapse that gave them a chance or a little in. But it was so measured and controlled throughout that we never gave them a sniff. The really important thing is for the team to be quite ruthless: once you鈥檙e on top, try to put them to bed.鈥漇mith has been a pivotal part of England鈥檚 batting line-up since they moved on from Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes. The youngster has already amassed 725 runs in 18 Test innings at a 73.08 strike rate, including a century and four fifties.The youngster dived deep about Bazball鈥檚 philosophy and said it is not only about hitting sixes and boundaries.鈥淭hat鈥檚 the impact of what this side鈥檚 done, it鈥檚 allowed the easy singles to go unnoticed because it feels like we鈥檙e scoring so fast,鈥 said Smith.鈥淏ut because the men are already out on the boundary, people are able to get off strike and that keeps the rate flowing. It鈥檚 obviously nice to hit a few sixes rather than the ones, but you鈥檙e just playing what鈥檚 in front of you and thankfully at the minute, it seems to be coming off.鈥淪omething that definitely took my game to the next level was having that belief from other people and that transfers on to you, especially when you鈥檙e out there batting,鈥 he added.Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu鈥檚 inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.

Read More…