Cook lauds Hartley for debut seven-wicket haul

Former England captain Alastair Cook has praised Tom Hartley’s “mental stamina” following his sensational Test debut.

The slow left-arm bowler was hit for two sixes during a chastening first spell in Hyderabad, as he recorded figures of 2 for 131 from just 25 overs.

“A lot of credit has to be given to him,” Cook told TNT Sports, “for mentally being able to handle the onslaught and then, coming out, chasing 230, to be able to deliver the goods.

“He had big pressure to do that and he delivered. That’s huge credit for him. The challenge, as always, is they’ve seen a bit more of him now, so it’ll be interesting to see what India do and how they approach playing him.

“Obviously, they went really hard in the first innings, trying to knock him off his stride. They didn’t quite know what to do in the second innings.

“He can take a lot of credit, and obviously England might have found a cricketer who is good under pressure, and that’s ultimately what Test cricket is about.

“The balance of the attack you felt was short a little bit, and then suddenly, it seems it works.

“If Hartley can do the holding role in the first innings, being accurate like he was in the second innings, [with] the attacking leg-spinner, you’ve got Jack Leach’s experience and Joe Root to bowl off-spin, Stokes has got a lot of options covered.

“It will be interesting to see what the wicket looks like in Vizag, whether they only need three of those four, but it looked quite good in the game. It gave Stokesy a lot of options.”

Hartley opened the bowling in the first innings, much to the surprise of many supporters and ex-players, who thought the more senior Leach may have been given the new ball.

What followed was an onslaught from Yashasvi Jaiswal, as his first two overs were taken for 25 runs.

It reminded some of another – now retired – Lancashire spinner, Simon Kerrigan, who made his debut in the 2013 Ashes, but was never seen again in an England shirt after delivering figures of 0-53 off eight overs.

Cook was captain at that point, and admits if he had been the skipper in the present day, he might have given Hartley the hook.

“I’d have probably taken him off and bowled somebody else!” he laughed. “But who knows? Stokesy obviously gambles a bit as well. He likes the fact that when someone is going hard at a bowler, there is a chance of making that mistake and getting him a wicket as well.

“Hartley’s got something about him to be able to bowl in the second innings under pressure. I don’t think that’s just down to Stokesy and keeping him on in that first innings.

“I think that’s down to Hartley and his mental stamina and stomach for the fight as well.”

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