28 February,2021 09:38 AM IST | Ahmedabad | Harit Joshi
Jonathan Trott. Pic/AFP
England are down and out as far as making it to the World Test Championships is concerned after their 10-wicket loss in the third Test against India here at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Motera.
The thumping defeats in the last two Tests have sucked out all the excitement from the English camp after their stunning win against India in the opening Test at Chennai.
However, England batting coach Jonathan Trott said the visitors are more determined than ever going into the fourth Test here from March 4.
"It is disappointing with how the two Tests have gone for us. But you don't become a bad side after just two Test matches. Yes, it hurts and we want to pull up our socks and do well for England. It makes you doubly determined to do well," said Trott during a virtual press conference.
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If England manage to win the fourth Test, they can level the series 2-2, which will disallow India from making it to the World Test Championships final. In that case, Australia will go through to meet New Zealand in the final.
Trott does not want England lads to be too desperate in the fourth Test. "It is important that one does not become too desperate. You feel for the lads, nobody sees them work harder than the coaches do. They are hurting in the dressing room. We are disappointed with the way we played, but it's done and the focus is on the next match. I don't think anyone is feeling sorry for themselves. Lot of guys want to do well, relishing the challenges of next week."
Talking about the blame game over the Motera pitch, Trott said it would be a disservice to solely slam the track.
"I thought it was tricky at times for everybody to play on, obviously pretty dry and that's what we have seen here in India. We had first use for it, so we would have like to score more runs and put India under bit of pressure," Trott said.
"We saw when we bowled well, we could restrict them to. I always like to see what we could have done better instead of blaming things.
"So looking and blaming the pitch, I think, would be doing ourselves a disservice. Yes, the ball did spin and there were balls which skid on but it was same for both sides," said Trott.