In a surprising turn of events during the third Test between India and England, the visitors experienced a dramatic batting collapse on Day Three, leaving former cricketer Alastair Cook visibly displeased. Despite starting the day at 207/2, hopes were high for England, but the Ben Stokes-led team lost the remaining eight wickets for just 112 runs, concluding their innings at 319.
The early innings showed promise for England, especially with Ben Duckett’s aggressive play. Duckett managed to score a century in just 88 balls, marking himself as the fastest English batter to achieve this feat in India. Unfortunately, the momentum didn’t sustain, as Duckett added only 20 runs to his overnight total of 133, setting the stage for a collective batting failure.
Ben Stokes, offering some resistance with 41 runs, stood almost alone as the rest of the batting lineup struggled to reach even 20 runs individually. Following their first innings, England found themselves trailing India by 126 runs, despite Duckett’s commendable innings.
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Expressing his disappointment, Cook expressed deep disappointment and openly criticized England’s subpar batting performance. In an interview with Sky Sports, he stressed the need for consistent excellence in Test matches, acknowledging India’s turnaround from a poor performance the previous day. Cook underscored the difficulty of winning matches with such a collapse and emphasized the significance of sustained performance in Test cricket.
“My shout [from yesterday] of ‘they could score 800 tomorrow is not looking too good – I’m only 481 off. Is it an opportunity lost? England has been poor with the bat – they’ve lost eight wickets for 116 today, and you don’t win many matches when you collapse like that in the first innings,” said Alastair Cook.
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“To win Test matches you have to be good for such long periods of time. India was poor yesterday, but they’ve been very, very good today,” Cook added.
The Indian team currently finds themselves in a robust position, thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal’s outstanding second-innings century, complementing Siraj’s earlier brilliance with the ball. Looking ahead, the spotlight shifts to the English team and how they navigate this match, particularly with batting becoming progressively challenging in the fourth innings. The unfolding dynamics promise an intriguing contest as the game progresses.
