‘Changed’ Bell keen to prove himself in Indian conditions

London: England batsman Ian Bell, who is expected to replace Jonny Bairstow in the third Test match against India in Kolkata, has claimed he is ready to finally deliver in India following poor performances in the country so far.

Bell had left the team behind on the final morning of the first Test to be present at the birth of his first child and spent 10 days at home with his family before arriving in Calcutta. While in England Bell reflected on a poor first Test when he threw his wicket away first ball in the first innings trying to hit Pragyan Ojha over mid off only to pop a catch to the fielder. If Bell plays at Eden Gardens, Bell knows it is time to change his poor track record in India. “My attempt was to be positive. At times, I have been reactive rather than positive. When it doesn’t come off, it didn’t look particularly great,” the Telegraph quoted Bell, as saying. “But that’s probably the first one I’ve hit straight up in the air in an England shirt – a lot of the time it goes where I want it to go. I’m not going to put that shot away but I’ll probably have to pick a better time to play it,” he added. “India is the one place [he has struggled]. My first tour to Pakistan went really well, played nice cricket in Sri Lanka. But here has not gone so well – and it’s the same in one-day cricket, too,’ he said. Bell added: “Maybe sometimes I have tried a bit too hard. And that shot in Ahmedabad was a sign of me saying, ‘Right, I’m coming at you, I’m not going to sit here and just get out’.” “But from what’s happened in the last week, my whole thought about that has changed, I guess. Maybe I’ve built a bit too much on myself in the past and now I just want to go out and trust my ability and spend time in the middle and score runs,” he concluded. ANI