Zafar Ansari says first Test draw has boosted confidence in England camp
Tuesday 15 November 2016 13:31, UK
Zafar Ansari says England's promising display in the drawn first Test with India has strengthened belief within the team that they can win the five-match series.
Alastair Cook's side dominated much of the match in Rajkot after centuries from Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes helped them post 537 in the first innings before Cook himself scored his fifth ton on the subcontinent in the second to set up a nervy final afternoon for the hosts.
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Ansari took three wickets in the match and says confidence is high heading into the second Test at Visakhapatnam.
"The talk going into the series was of India dominating and obviously it's only one Test match, but I think we've put down a marker at least," he told Sky Sports News HQ.
"Four more Test matches is going to be hard work, but we want to continue that.
"We went into the series feeling fairly confident, fairly at ease with what was ahead of us and that has continued. The game in Rajkot reiterated those things.
"It proved we have the skills to win the games out here. It's not going to be easy - five Tests in India, they have a lot of good players - but I think if we just keep it simple, doing what we've done so far, we'll be alright."
Ansari, whose father is from Pakistan, is aware that his presence the national side alongside Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and teenage opener Haseeb Hameed has a wider significance.
"As a collective as a group of four British Muslims ... that's really exciting and something we're proud of," he added.
"A lot of people outside the group clearly care about that and value that a lot - and that is a good thing in our society."
Ansari, citing his "very privileged background" as the Cambridge-educated son of two professors, does not feel of an aspiring class.
"I wouldn't hold myself up as a role-model - at least in that way," he said. "I don't necessarily challenge norms in a particularly obvious way or even in a superficial way. So I wouldn't necessarily characterise myself as breaking down boundaries.
"But Moeen, Adil and Haseeb - all of them are doing a wonderful job representing, if they are representing, their communities."
