Former England cricketer-turned-commentator Mark Butcher was disappointed with the fielding efforts of the Indian team especially veteran off-spinner R Ashwin in the ongoing first Test of the four-match Test series between India and England at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
Stokes was dropped twice in the two successive overs – the first one was a caught and bowled opportunity missed by Ashwin when the English all-rounder was batting on 31 and the next one was a difficult chance put down by Cheteshwar Pujara in the ongoing first Test in Chennai.
The fielding error hurt Team India, as the star all-rounder went on to score 82 runs and helped the double-centurion Joe Root (218) to put England in a commanding position against the hosts in the ongoing first Test before being dismissed by Shahbaz Nadeem on Day 2 in Chennai.
Taking a dig at Ashwin for his fielding error, Butcher said the off-spinner is not the “best mover” and looked like he’s 20 years older than he is really is sometimes out there on the field.
Butcher said on the Star Sports Network during the lunch interval on Day 2: “Catch those. That’s the issue. He managed to beat Stokes a couple of times off the flat part of the wicket. Didn’t need the rough for that but you’re going to need a little more assistance to put a batsman like Ben Stokes under pressure. When he does give you a chance, you’re going to have to take it.”
He continued, “Ashwin’s not the best mover in the Indian side. He always looks to me like he’s 20 years older than he is really is sometimes out there on the field. And he’s bowled a lot of overs, he’s looking a little bit tired and that’s the chance you desperately want to hang on to.”
Butcher signed off by saying, “The thing that ended up being the case for India is that they were going to hope that Ben Stokes did something wrong and gave him a chance. Stokes was aiming it to the left of the screen and it ended up going upright.”
(With Hindustan Times Inputs)
