England debutant Owais Shah on Sunday said the batting lessons he received from former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin on his visit to this country in 2004 had helped him launch his Test career with a flourish.
Shah, who made 88 in England's first innings score of 400, said the tips by the Hyderabadi cricketer were invaluable and he had stuck to them diligently.
"I came down to India after hearing Azhar was opening a cricket academy. He put me up in a hotel for ten days and gave me batting lessons and after going back to England I stuck to these. They helped me here," said the naturalised Englishman.
Asked about his team's strategy, Shah said "the basic plan was to keep them on the field as far as we can."
He said batting in the second innings would be a tough ask though the wicket had not yet showed any signs of affording turn to the slow bowlers.
"But what will happen over the next two days cannot be predicted. It will be a tough task to bat against the two world-class spinners (Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble). But our first task is to try and force them to follow on," he said.
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"I have seen people like Mike Hussey not getting a chance to play for Australia for years together. He scored heavily and got into the team. I knew that I would get an opportunity to play for England one day and that I should try and get as many runs as I can (in English county cricket). The selection is not in my hands," he said.
Shah, who was included in the playing eleven after Alastair Cook pulled out at the eleventh hour due to a stomach bug, said the last minute call meant there was no chance of any butterflies in the stomach on the eve of the match.
"I never thought I would play in the series after Alastair's century on debut (at Nagpur). Since he was scheduled to play over the last two or three days there was no chance of becoming nervous on match eve as I was told I am playing only a few hours before the match," he said.
The Middlesex batsman, who retired yesterday due to cramps in both hands, said the lessons learnt taught him to take more fluids today to avoid getting dehydrated.
"I sweat a lot and get cramps in hands. I learned the lessons of yesterday and made sure I was high on hydration today," he said.
He dismissed his wordy duels with Indian pacers Munaf Patel and S Sreesanth as "a light banter."
"It was all in good spirit," Shah said.
