Ben Stokes led England's bowling attack with an incredible five-wicket haul, his first in Test cricket since 2017, as India was bowled out for 358 in their opening innings of the 4th Test at Old Trafford.

The English opening duo of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley provided their team a solid and consistent start, but what came next was a frustrating stretch of play for the visitors. England was able to gain momentum with little opposition when the Indian bowlers were unable to secure early wickets.

Former India coach Ravi Shastri and ex-Australia captain Ricky Ponting didn’t mince their words while discussing the poor bowling by Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammed Siraj, and Shardul Thakur, as Crawley and Duckett hammered India at over 5.50 runs per over.

“Just not consistent enough. They will look back at this session and see, especially some of the boundary deliveries, that it's pretty ordinary stuff, at times rubbish,” Shastri said during commentary after Crawley smashed Siraj for a four down the ground at the start of the 12th over.

Shastri responded that he would have likely talked to them in their original tongue, which would have sounded "harsher," when asked if he would have used the exact words if he had been the head coach at the time.

“Absolutely, maybe in better terms. Maybe get the local lingo in there, which can sound harsher. Some harsh words will be exchanged between the coach and the bowling coach. That's how he puts it across. It's different. If he can't, then you step in and say exactly the same,” Shastri added.

In his analysis of India's performance, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was blunt, reflecting the views of former India head coach and icon Ravi Shastri.

“I think we heard it when we were waiting to come out just before the break, what Ravi Shastri said. It was rubbish. They just missed their areas. I'm not sure what they were expecting out of the surface, but I was surprised that they actually went with Anshul Kamboj ahead of Mohammed Siraj with the new ball to start with, knowing what impact Siraj has had on this series so far and knowing how important the start of England's batting innings is. You know they're going to come out and play their shots,” Ponting said on Sky Cricket.

Ponting was particularly critical of India’s line and length early in the innings.

"I think they had to go to their best and most experienced bowlers. They got off to a flyer—way too straight to Duckett, so many boundaries square of the wicket on the leg side. You know you can't bowl there. So, they've got some work to do now. They've got to get together at the break and work out how they're going to bowl to try and slow the scoring down, but then also work out how they're going to get these two out," added Ponting.

Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley added 166 runs for the opening wicket, with Crawley making 84 with 13 fours and one six before getting out to Ravindra Jadeja.

Prior to this test, injuries had already limited India's bowling options, as Nitish Kumar Reddy and pacers Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh were out. As a result, the squad was forced to give Haryana pacer Anshul Kamboj, who had not yet been capped, his debut.