<p>After a four-year gap, Piyush Chawla made his return to Test cricket a memorable one, grabbing four wickets that helped India restrict England to 330 in their first innings of the fourth Test at the VCA stadium.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“There is always pressure whenever you play but there was little bit more pressure this time because I was making a comeback to the Indian team after a long wait of four years. But the way it has started I think it has been good,” Chawla told reporters at the end of the fourth day’s play. <br /><br />But Chawla’s assessment of himself made for a rather curious listening. He hadn’t set the domestic season ablaze to merit a return to the Indian side purely on the basis of statistics but he blamed his modest run in the Ranji Trophy to the nature of pitches.<br /><br />“If you consider the type of wickets on which we played the Ranji Trophy matches this season I would say I did well. We were playing mostly on seaming tracks so I would say my performance was good in that sense,” Chawla, who has replaced Harbhajan Singh in the side, said. <br /><br />The leg-spinner also defended the struggling Indian batsmen. The top-order came up with another brittle performance on the day, that saw India reeling at 87 for four and 243 runs in arrears of England’s total of 330.<br /><br />“This is a phase that (batsmen struggling) happens. It is not that our batting has flopped big time as we have managed to get around 300-350 in every match. It has not affected the bowlers because as a bowling unit we have done well,” he added. <br /><br />However, Chawla admitted that the Indian bowlers failed to keep England under 300 <br />after plucking five wickets on Thursday. “We thought if we get one wicket to start with in the morning we can stop them somewhere under the 300-run mark but Joe Root and Prior batted really well. But when we broke that partnership we recovered really well,” he said. <br /><br />So, was there anyway India could regain the lost ground? “We lost a few quick wickets but we still have two quality batsmen at the crease and they are having a good partnership and seeing the ball really well. Let’s hope for the best because the way these guys are middling the ball we could have a good session tomorrow,” Chawla added.</p>
<p>After a four-year gap, Piyush Chawla made his return to Test cricket a memorable one, grabbing four wickets that helped India restrict England to 330 in their first innings of the fourth Test at the VCA stadium.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“There is always pressure whenever you play but there was little bit more pressure this time because I was making a comeback to the Indian team after a long wait of four years. But the way it has started I think it has been good,” Chawla told reporters at the end of the fourth day’s play. <br /><br />But Chawla’s assessment of himself made for a rather curious listening. He hadn’t set the domestic season ablaze to merit a return to the Indian side purely on the basis of statistics but he blamed his modest run in the Ranji Trophy to the nature of pitches.<br /><br />“If you consider the type of wickets on which we played the Ranji Trophy matches this season I would say I did well. We were playing mostly on seaming tracks so I would say my performance was good in that sense,” Chawla, who has replaced Harbhajan Singh in the side, said. <br /><br />The leg-spinner also defended the struggling Indian batsmen. The top-order came up with another brittle performance on the day, that saw India reeling at 87 for four and 243 runs in arrears of England’s total of 330.<br /><br />“This is a phase that (batsmen struggling) happens. It is not that our batting has flopped big time as we have managed to get around 300-350 in every match. It has not affected the bowlers because as a bowling unit we have done well,” he added. <br /><br />However, Chawla admitted that the Indian bowlers failed to keep England under 300 <br />after plucking five wickets on Thursday. “We thought if we get one wicket to start with in the morning we can stop them somewhere under the 300-run mark but Joe Root and Prior batted really well. But when we broke that partnership we recovered really well,” he said. <br /><br />So, was there anyway India could regain the lost ground? “We lost a few quick wickets but we still have two quality batsmen at the crease and they are having a good partnership and seeing the ball really well. Let’s hope for the best because the way these guys are middling the ball we could have a good session tomorrow,” Chawla added.</p>
