England openers took the Indian bowling attack to the cleaners on Day at Old Trafford.
Former cricketer-turned-commentator Nasser Hussain slammed Shubman Gill’s captaincy and India’s bowling on Day 2 of the Manchester Test against England.
Hussain didn’t mince words as he said the bowlers were ‘very poor’ with their lines, while Gill’s decision to give the new ball to debutant Anshul Kamboj over Mohammed Siraj was ‘odd’. He felt these two factors just gave back the hard-earned runs Indian batters scored amidst tough conditions at Old Trafford.
The visitors were bundled out for 358 in the first innings, with only three batters managing to cross the 50-run mark. Rishabh Pant, who was retired-hurt due to a toe fracture on Day 1, came back hobbling when India were six wickets down to reach a 75-ball 54.
In reply, Ben Duckett (94 off 100) and Zak Crawley (84 off 113) took the Indian bowling attack to the cleaners, adding 166 runs for the opening wicket in just 195 balls. Their whirlwind display propelled England to 225/2 in 46 overs at stumps.
“Slightly changing conditions, but they bowled very poorly," Hussain told Sky Sports after the second session.
“A change in overhead conditions doesn’t make you bowl both sides of the wicket. Too many balls on the pads. Captain’s decisions… didn’t quite agree with, to be honest. Kamboj wasn’t in the squad a week ago, to bring him into the team and give him a new ball ahead of Siraj… seems odd," he added.
“I would’ve gone for Siraj for a short burst, then switched him to the other end to follow Bumrah. We’ve all been talking about the green channel on the strip across… this is the end where Stokes bowled and got his fifer, and got uneven bounce and sideways movement. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong… Rishabh Pant went out there on one leg, and got valuable runs today. They’ve just handed those runs back to England."
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja drew the first blood for India by dismissing Crawley in the 32nd over. Debutant Anshul Kamboj was brought back for a second spell and claimed the prized scalp of Duckett, but Joe Root (11*) and Ollie Pope (20*) survived some more harmless bowling to stay unbeaten.