India lost the second ODI to England in Cardiff by 4 wickets.
Abhinav Mukund, former India opener, has opined that there has been a pattern throughout the ongoing ODI series between England and India, where the Men in Blue batters have failed to tackle short-pitch bowling by England seamers.
His words came after England defeated India in the second ODI in Cardiff on July 16. India was asked to bat first and only managed 233 runs, thanks to half-centuries by Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer. In response, Joe Root scored 99* and shouldered England’s chase, as they achieved the target with 4 wickets in hand.
Mukund commended England's bowlers for their consistent use of well-directed short-pitched balls to trouble India's batters.
"It's been a pattern for the entire series - England peppering India with short pitch stuff on grounds that have bigger square boundaries, where the pull shots are not going out of the ground. England's bowlers have been extremely effective with the use of the short pitch delivery, and I think Archer has been brilliant. Virat got caught out, and then you had two more dismissals to the short pitch stuff,” Mukund said on Cricinfo.
Both India and England's fast bowlers performed admirably in the second ODI in Cardiff on Thursday. Mukund noted that while England won the game, India's pacers bowled better for the most part. He did, however, admit that England's pacers' comeback spells made a significant difference.
"To be fair, I felt India's pacers bowled better than the English pacers because their new ball spell was better. The usage of the short ball in the final spell from Gurnoor Brar was all of it very big tick boxes for me. I felt England did not bowl well in the first 10. Unfortunately for India, the second spell, where both Mahmood and Atkinson and Archer all came back, ended up getting a lot of wickets,” Mukund added.
With the three-match series tied 1-1, India and England will have everything to play for in the decider at Lord's in London on Sunday, July 19.