Former England cricketer-turned-commentator Mark Butcher has heaped praise on Indian off-spinner R Ashwin for his “aggressive” batting on day 3 of the ongoing second Test of the four-match Test series against England at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Ashwin, who made crucial contributions with the bat in Australia last month, has yet again impressed all with his brilliant and responsible batting in the ongoing second Test against England in Chennai.
After India lost five wickets early in the play of Day 3, Ashwin joined his captain Virat Kohli (62) to put on a 96-run stand to take the hosts to a strong position in the third session – a lead of over 450 runs in the ongoing second Tests against England on Monday (February 15).
As the right-hander notched up a brilliant Test century (106), Butcher lauded the all-rounder for his attacking batting at the challenging Chepauk pitch where not a single English batsman managed to cross the 50-run mark in the first innings against Team India.
Hailing the off-spinner, former England cricketer said Ashwin’s “batting gets overlooked in terms of its productivity” while calling him a “very fine all-round cricketer”.
Butcher said on Star Sports: “Ashwin has just come out very, very aggressive. Virat is playing in a very calculated way. It's very tricky to bowl to these players. The ball is getting a little bit older, which is not helping England and the bowlers are losing a bit of the fight.”
He further noted, “Ashwin is some cricketer, isn't he? He has taken a five-for in the first innings, along with the 6 wickets he picked in the first Test. He makes unbelievably valuable runs in Test cricket; he is batting at no. 8 in this Test match. He is a very fine all-round cricketer. And his batting gets overlooked in terms of its productivity.”
Meanwhile, the Englishman wasn’t impressed with the tourists’ bowling on Day 3, saying: “Having played a little bit of cricket myself, I can guarantee you this, it's much easier to come out and bat on a tricky pitch when you already have a lead of 200 in the first innings. It's much more straight forward.”
Butcher further explained, “So, England showed how different the Test would have been having they bowled as well as they started off this morning. Our bowling in the first innings was poor. 329 was far, far too many runs to have been given away in the first innings. Rohit played well as well.
This England team will fight, there is no doubt about it. Even if they are up against it in ways that you would not imagine, they would come out and fight. They picked up the 5 wickets, Ben Foakes was absolutely stunning, Jack Leach bowled quite beautifully to make life difficult for India's top order this morning.
But eventually, the bowl got a little bit older, the lead keeps growing and India is having their way with England once more.”
He signed off by saying, “It's going to be a tough day, England has perhaps exceeded the expectations a little bit, but India is miles, miles ahead. No one has ever chased 300 before here. If the lead was 170, I would still be backing India,”
