'There was more of a fear of...' - England wicketkeeper-batter Ben Foakes ignites new debate on pitch ahead of 2nd Test against India

Ben Foakes, who is currently active as a wicketkeeper-batter for England in the ongoing five-match Test series, came up with his opinion about the surface on which the first Test was played in Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. Apart from that, Foakes also spoke about the pitch for the next and second Test of the five-match series.

Notably, India and England will be taking on each other in the second Test of the series at the ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium in Vishakhapatnam, starting on February 2. Currently, the visitors are leading the series by a margin of 1-0 with a 28-run win in the Test Series opener.

"I just need to find a way to stay in" - Ben Foakes

Coming back to Ben Foakes, he also termed the first Test pitch ‘horrific’. The 32-year-old also ignited a new pitch debate just ahead of the next Test of the five-match series against Rohit Sharma’s men.

“Going into that, I was thinking, these are horrific wickets - I just need to find a way to stay in, I think now the group is more, if that's the situation, you've got to be positive; got to put it [pressure] back on the bowler and put them under pressure,’ ESPNcricinfo quoted Foakes as saying.

“Before, there was more of a fear of getting out and that put us in our shells. Whereas now it's not worrying that you are getting out and accepting that you probably are on those sorts of surfaces. But how can you go and dominate at times as well?” he added later.

Speaking of the first Test between India and England in Hyderabad, the visiting skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first, England posted a total of 246 runs before India took a 190-run lead over India with their first-innings total of 436 runs.

Later, England scored 420 runs in the second innings to post a 231-run target for India to chase which the latter failed to do and lost the match by 28 runs.