Following England's 28-run win over India in the first Test match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday, former cricketer Monty Panesar said that it could be a 5-0 result if their two stars continue their rich vein of form Speaking exclusively to ANI, Monty said that England's win over India was very "big" and that no one imagined it would have been possible.
Despite being 190 runs ahead after day 2, Rohit Sharma and co. allowed England to get away as Ollie Pope's 2nd innings hundred sparked their resurgence. Pope's marathon innings of 196 gave the visiting side a 230-run lead, while Tom Hartley backed that up with a seven-wicket haul in the 2nd innings.
Talking about Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley's performance, he added that if the two English cricketers continue their form then the visitors have a chance to win the series by 5-0.
"If Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley continue to play like this it will be a whitewash, it will be 5-0 for England. It can happen if Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley play like this," he added.
"Rohit Sharma was clueless" - Monty Panesar
He added that the hosts need to stop giving so much freedom to the English players. The former England spinner also said that if Virat Kohli was in the team then he would have charged the visitors. He added that England would still play with the fear of failure in the upcoming four Test matches.
"It is a very big victory, no one even imagined this was even possible. Everyone thought that England would lose after a 190 deficit but Ollie Pope had a brilliant inning one of the best innings we have seen in a long time and Rohit Sharma was clueless. India need to stop giving the freedom that the England players are getting. If Virat Kohli was playing he would have been in the faces of these England players and told them 'Hey, do it again let's see how good you are'.
The 2nd Test begins on February 2nd in Vishakhapatnam.
