"Will not sink in for a while" - Tom Hartley on his 7-wicket haul in IND vs ENG 1st Test

England's debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley shone with the ball on Day 4 of their Test series opener against India at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

The youngster received a lot of flak for his ordinary bowling in India's first innings. However, he staged a fantastic turnaround, bagging a stunning seven-wicket haul in the subsequent essay.

His bowling exploits helped the visitors bundle out India for just 202 in the fourth innings and complete a famous 28-run victory. Speaking about his performance at the post-match presentation, Tom Hartley said:

"It's unbelievable, will not sink in for a while to be honest. I don't think there was a lot of help, I had to keep a cool head. It was a tough one (on the first innings bowling effort), it didn't spin as much as I thought, and I had a chat with Stokes, McCullum and the team management. The dressing room has great vibes, it's a fantastic dressing room, one of the best. It's just the Stokes way, just bowl into the surface and we came out on top today."

Tom Hartley finished with nine wickets in his debut Test, as he picked up three wickets in the second innings before registering 7/62 in the fourth innings.

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"I didn't have to bowl as fast as I thought" - Tom Hartley on changing his approach

Tom Hartley also chipped in with a valuable contribution with the bat, scoring 34 runs on the fourth day. He mentioned that spending time at the crease helped him get a better understanding of the pitch.

He also stated that he changed his plans after seeing the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bowl in these conditions. Hartley added:

"Getting a few runs always helps (on his second innings batting effort), it also helped me get to know about the pitch a lot more. Just unbelievable to be honest. I didn't have to bowl as fast as I thought (in the first innings), watching Ash and Jadeja, we knew we could take some time - change the length and the trajectory when we bowled for the second time."

The two sides will square off for the second Test of the five-match series at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam which is scheduled to be played from February 02 to 06.