Fielding Coach Trevor Penney Defends Struggling Indian Batsmen in England
On the batting front, India have really gone down like a pack of cards for three Tests running now. It started in Southampton and then carried over to Manchester and has now repeated itself in London.
India's continued batting failure, notwithstanding, fielding coach Trevor Penney on Friday defended the under-performing willow-wielders, saying the visitors had to encounter tough conditions after losing the toss on the opening day of the fifth and final Test against England here. (Day 1 Highlights | Day Report)
Put into bat on overcast conditions, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni waged a lone war with a gutsy 82 as England bundled out India for a paltry 148 in their first innings at a seaming Oval.
Penney feels English bowlers simply utilised the conditions to perfection unlike Indian bowling department.
"It was a good toss to win and the English guys bowled well," Penney said at the post-day's press conference.
"The first session was crucial. It was a good toss to lose in the last match and today it was the other way round. That's how it has played out in these last two matches.
"I think the batsmen did well today because the conditions were quite tough out there. Unfortunately we were not able to do the same with the ball and hopefully tomorrow will be different," he said. (Read: India Have Learnt Nothing, Says Gavaskar)
Apart from Dhoni, only two other Indian batsmen -- Murali Vijay (18) and Ravichandran Ashwin (13) -- reached double-digits scores. (Also Read: Dhoni Creates Captaincy Record in England)
On the batting front, India have really gone down like a pack of cards for three Tests running now. It started in Southampton and then carried over to Manchester and has now repeated itself in London.