‘Still not fully satisfied with my bowling’: Kamboj vows to come back stronger in Manchester Test

Anshul Kamboj capped off a memorable day on his first outing as an India bowler by getting rid of the dangerous Ben Duckett, six shy of a hundred on Day 2 of the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford on Thursday. Kamboj, who was drafted in as a last-minute replacement for injured Akash Deep for the potentially series-deciding Test, however, had to sweat hard for his maiden Test wicket.

In his first five overs of Test cricket, Kamboj was milked for 22 runs by the English opening pair of Duckett and Zak Crawley, before the right-arm quick came back towards the fag end of the day, to reap his reward with an excellent spell.

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On a day when the weather gods showered mercy on the home side, as the pitch eased up and the skies cleared during England innings, the Indian pacers failed to extract the same advantage as their English counterparts, before Ravindra Jadeja managed to pull things back by breaking the166-run opening stand with the scalp of Crawley (84).

Kamboj then joined the party by removing Duckett, but the young Haryana pacer wasn’t fully satisfied with his effort on his maiden outing, and vowed to improve his showing on the third day.

“I felt good after picking up my maiden wicket in international cricket. I was focused on hitting the right areas, that was my plan from the start. Some deliveries landed well, some didn’t. Honestly, I’m still not fully satisfied with my bowling. I’ll look to improve and do better tomorrow,’ Kamboj said on JioHotstar.

“I tried to put in more effort during my first two spells. In the third spell, I focused on backing my strengths and sticking to my areas. Tomorrow, we’ll look to bowl in good areas again and try to dismiss them as quickly as possible. The key will be to restrict boundaries because they seem more focused on hitting fours rather than taking singles.”

Kamboj also shared the learning experience of bowling alongside India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.

“I get to learn a lot from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, observing what they do in different situations and understanding what needs to be done. We constantly talk to each other, and it’s all about adapting according to the conditions and the match scenario,” he said.

Kamboj, however, received a pat from former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar, who felt the youngster displayed his potential despite the dramatic change in pitch conditions on the second day.

“I’m very happy for Kamboj — there are clear signs that he has potential. He’s got a simple, repeatable action, but he can’t afford to bowl back of a length or good length at under 130 kph. That’s an area for improvement. To be fair, the pitch also changed dramatically on Day 2, so he didn’t get much help either.”

For India, Rishabh Pant’s courageous return to the crease despite a fractured foot was the defining moment of Day 2, as India were bowled out for 358 in their first innings, thanks to Ben Stokes’ brilliant five-wicket haul, his first in eight years.