Former India player RP Singh said that Team India might have to adopt a slightly defensive approach to bowl England out on the third day of the third Test in Rajkot. However, India were all out for 445 in their first innings after starting the second day (Friday, February 16) at 326/5 and England then took on the Indian bowlers as England ended the day at 205/2 in just 35 overs as well.

During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, RP Singh said: “I feel they will have to bowl with a better plan. At times, when batters are set on such a wicket, you have to slow down the game slightly and play a little dead cricket. You have to bowl on one side so that a lot of boundaries are not scored.”

“If you have to bowl England out, you will have to stop the boundaries. The more boundaries they get, their confidence will be higher. We saw how they were batting, if one or two dot balls were bowled, they played the reverse sweep or stepped out. They were doing something or the other,” RP Singh further added.

However, England scored 134 runs in boundaries, hitting 29 fours and three sixes as well. All the Indian bowlers, barring Jasprit Bumrah, gave away more than five runs per over. RP Singh also added that India need to follow a monotonous approach.

“They weren’t getting the energy without hitting the boundaries. I feel you will have to make a setup plan, where you might have to bowl the same way for four or five overs, boring bowling, and then you can try something and force the batters to do something. The Indian captain made a bouncer plan. It was a good plan but for that, the areas in which you bowl the bouncers should be good. It should attack the head. When we used to play, the captain always said that we need to find the length where the bouncer goes and hits the head,” RP Singh concluded.