Former Indian coach, Ravi Shastri has shared his disappointment after the dismal batting performance of India on Day 4 against England in the ongoing Test at Edgbaston. Having started the day with a score of 125 runs for the loss of three wickets, the visitors only managed to reach the score of 245, giving England a target of 387 to win. In response, the hosts got off to a brilliant start and found themselves in a strong position thanks to Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow’s fine 150-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Ravi Shastri, who is a part of the Sky Sports commentary team, said that India had teh chance of batting out the hosts from the game. He said, “I think (it was) disappointing, to say the least because they could have batted England out of this contest. They needed to bat two sessions and I thought they were defensive, they were timid today, especially after lunch.”
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He further added, “Even after they had lost those wickets, they could have taken some chances. Runs were important at that stage of the game and I thought they just went into a shell, lost those wickets too quickly, and gave enough time for England to bat today.”
Former English skipper, Kevin Pietersen also said that Bumrah failed to get his tactics right on Day four and gave Root and Bairstow defensive fields which allowed them to get back into the game.
Elaborating the same, Kevin Pietersen said, “I don’t think Bumrah got his tactics right at all, and I say that with the greatest deal of respect. There is no way with a reverse swinging ball that he should make it that easy for the batter, because the batter is trying so hard to decipher which way that ball is swinging. When it’s reverse swinging at 90mph, the nicest place to bat is at the non-strikers’ end, and the ability to get to the non-strikers’ end as easily as they did this afternoon.”
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He concluded, “They had long off and long on, and that was pure madness. For half an hour, that was pure madness. Even for the last 15-20 minutes of the day’s play, pull them right in, say ‘Jonny, if you’re good enough to hit me over the head, please do it. I hope they don’t do it on Tuesday morning, but for England’s sake, absolutely, let them spread them as far as they want.”
