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'You can talk about the pitch and about the ball and about anything else, but you have to find a way to score first innings runs.'
Former captain Andrew Strauss believes England’s batsmen are not good enough to tackle the spin-friendly Indian conditions after yet another flop show by the visitors in the first innings of the ongoing fourth Test in Ahmedabad.
England's batsmen produced a shoddy performance and surrendered the momentum to India after Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin called the shots on Thursday, the opening day of the Test in Ahmedabad.
After five innings, England crossed the 200-run mark, scoring 205 in 75.5 overs before being bowled out.
"Let's not hide away from the truth. England's batting, quite frankly, is not good enough in these conditions," Strauss was quoted as saying by Channel 4.
"You can talk about the pitch and about the ball and about anything else, but you have to find a way to score first innings runs and they have got very few to play with."
The 44-year-old Strauss, a former left-handed opener, feels England’s batsmen are losing the battle in their minds as they are committing the same mistakes they did in the previous two Tests.
"It is scarcely believable," he said.
"England are making the same mistakes they have made throughout the whole series. The non-turning ball has left them non-plussed."
England are trailing the four-match series 1-2.