London: Batting coach Graham Gooch backed Andrew Strauss to come good against India and said he does not see any flaw in the England captain’s technique against left-arm seamers and he should not worry about Zaheer Khan in the Test series starting on July 21.
Strauss scored just 27 runs from four innings in the Test series against Sri Lanka but he came good against India in the practice match, scoring a ton and a half century while playing as a guest for Somerset.
“Guesting for another county has got to be a first and probably a quiz question in years to come but he had a very profitable weekend and the decision to play in that game (for Somerset against India) and get some match practice before the first Test has really put him in good touch,” Gooch said.
“I don’t think there are problems. Every player goes through a lean patch from time to time. Andrew did very well in the Ashes series and I would expect him to have a good series and lead from the front against India,” said the former England captain.
Gooch sees no problem in Strauss’ technique against left-arm seamers and said he should not worry about facing Indian strike bowler Zaheer Khan, who has dismissed him five times before.
“There are always bowlers that give players a bit more trouble than others. Andrew has worked hard on this aspect in practice and I don’t see any major issue there. I think it’s just confidence. He’s got runs against Zaheer Khan in the past — he scored 150 against him at the World Cup in India.
“I think his confidence is good. He has worked hard at his game during the last few weeks while the one-day games were going on. His first match went well and hopefully he can carry that form and that confidence into the first Test. (PTI)
