NEW DELHI: Left-arm spinner
Tom Hartley
on Sunday said that the pitch used for the first Test against India didn't provide significant assistance to the spinners and the debutant had to 'keep a cool head' while bowing in the fourth innings.
Hartley had a memorable Test debut, claiming a seven-wicket haul as he played a crucial role in England's historic 28-run victory on the fourth day of the Hyderabad Test.
The narrative took a downturn for India during their pursuit of 231 as Hartley's impressive performance disrupted the home team's top order, triggering a collapse that resulted in their dismissal for 202 in the final over of the day.
"It's unbelievable, will not sink in for a while to be honest. I don't think there was a lot of help, I had to keep a cool head," Hartley told the broadcaster after the win.
"It was a tough one (on the first innings bowling effort), it didn't spin as much as I thought, and I had a chat with Stokes, McCullum and the team management."
He said said
Ben Stokes
had asked him to bowl into the surface.
"The dressing room has great vibes, it's a fantastic dressing room, one of the best. It's just the Stokes way, just bowl into the surface and we came out on top today."
Hartley's effort is the best figures for an England spinner on Test debut in the post-war era and nine wickets by him in a match is the joint-most since Robert Berry's 9/116 against West Indies in Manchester in 1950.
"Getting a few runs always helps (on his second innings batting effort), it also helped me get to know about the pitch a lot more. Just unbelievable to be honest.
I didn't have to bowl as fast as I thought (in the first innings), watching Ash (Ravichandran Ashwin) and (Ravindra) Jadeja, we knew we could take some time - change the length and the trajectory when we bowled for the second time," Hartley said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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