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'Watching Jadeja & Ashwin...,' Hartley Reveals His Planning After 7-Fer vs IND

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In a thrilling first Test match in Hyderabad, Tom Hartley emerged as the hero for England, claiming a remarkable seven-wicket haul on his Test debut against India. England secured a hard-fought 28-run victory over India, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Hartley's outstanding performance of 7/62 not only played a pivotal role in England's triumph but also etched his name in history, boasting the best figures for an England spinner on Test debut since 1945.

Chasing a target of 231 on Day 4, India initially showed promise but succumbed to Hartley's brilliant bowling. Despite the efforts of Ravichandran Ashwin and KS Bharat to stabilize the innings, they couldn't withstand Hartley's relentless attack. Joe Root and Jack Leach chipped in with one wicket each to seal the victory for England.

Earlier in the day, Ollie Pope's impressive innings of 196 runs gave India a lead of 230 runs, setting the stage for an enthralling contest.

Reflecting on his exceptional debut, Hartley expressed, 

"Yeah, it's unbelievable. You know, it's not going to sink in for a while, I think, you know, I'm just over the moon, to be honest. It was really tough out there. It didn't spin quite as much as we thought, but testament to the coaches and Stokesy and know they really got around me and I lost no confidence, really, and I was able to come out and do my best out here.”

Playing under the captaincy of Ben Stokes, Hartley highlighted the infectious energy in the team, saying,

 "Yeah, there's never a dull moment, to be honest. I'm always looking around and thinking, is there a fielder there? Was there last ball, but that's just the Stokes way and we've all bought into it and we've come out on top today, so it's definitely working."

Reflecting on his remarkable performance, Hartley shared insights into his strategy, stating,

 "I realized I didn't have to bowl as fast as I thought. I could take my time in my run-up, especially watching Jadeja and Ash and then the boys bowl on it. I thought we could take our time a little bit. The new ball didn't quite spin as much. So realizing that and then changed lines as the ball got older and started to spin more."

Despite initial nerves, Hartley's crucial insights into the pitch and a few runs with the bat eased his apprehensions. Looking ahead to the second Test scheduled on February 2 at Visakhapatnam, England lead 1-0 in the series.