The England camp, especially the bowlers, was upbeat about their chances. “Indian batters are quite to tough to bowl at in these conditions, and they play better here than anywhere else. But we are well prepared, and the 10-day camp helped us a lot in that regard. We have plans for them, and hopefully it will come out well,” skipper Charlotte Edwards said.
Caroline Atkins and Katherine Brunt -- the frontline English pacers -- hoped their past experiences will stand them in good stead. “I have been to India a couple of times before.
Here the pitches are different, and the length to bowl to is different. We will get lot more assistance in England, but here we can’t expect that but we focused a lot on those areas in the camp,” Atkins said. Brunt said variation was the key to success in sub-continent. “It requires a lot of variations and planning to get wickets here. Depending just on pace or bounce will not fetch you wickets, you will have to outhink the opponent with change of line and angle. Hopefully, things will work out for us here,” she said.
Off-spinner Anya Shrubsole hoped she can tie down the Indians. “Indians are good at playing spin, but I have worked a lot in the camp in that direction. I have attempted ‘doosra’, but it is still far from perfect, but I have other plans for them,” Shrubsole said.
England coach Mark Lane expressed confidence that his wards will excel in sub-continent conditions. “We have worked hard in preparation for this tour. These conditions definitely will bowlers. They have to work hard for wickets. There isn't too much pace and bounce and I am sure our fast bowlers will be put to test. But that will be the same for Jhulan Goswami from India as well,” Lane added.
