Nottingham, July 11 (PTI): Facing flak for conceding over 450 runs, the beleaguered English attack found support from an unlikely quarter when Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said that the home team's bowlers did not perform all that badly and did manage to put his side under pressure.
The English bowlers had to toil hard for nearly two days to bowl India out as Bhuvneshwar and Mohammed Shami shared a stunning rearguard 111-run last wicket partnership to frustrate the hosts and take the visitors to 457 in the ongoing opening Test.
"I don't think England bowled badly. They put enough pressure on us, tried different things and set up different fielding positions. It is the pitch, you need to do different things when it behaves like this.
"Also, if last wicket yields a 100-run partnership then the bowlers will get tired and frustrated. So they were doing their bit and we were doing our bit," said Bhuvneshwar who made 58, his maiden Test fifty.
Bhuvneshwar said he and his bowling colleagues will have to adopt a "patient" approach on a lifeless Trent Bridge wicket if the visitors want to bowl England out twice and win the first Test here.
The Trent Bridge pitch has drawn criticism for its flat nature and Bhuvneshwar too was of the view that Indian bowlers will have to produce a disciplined performance to make inroads into the English batting line-up.
"We cannot do much about the pitch except be patient. We need to keep bowling wicket to wicket and it is more like an Indian pitch. We have enough experience of playing at home so we know what we need to do," Bhuvneshwar said.
"The pitch might not change too much but it might take some turn later on. We are confident of bowling England out and we have to do that because we want to win this match," he said.
"We needed at least 400-450 runs in the first innings for a pitch like this and we did that. Now it is time to bowl well," he signed off.