The third day of the opening Test between India and England in Hyderabad produced a riveting contest between bat and ball.
After conceding a substantial first innings lead of 190 runs, England were struggling at 165/5 in their second essay. However, Ollie Pope produced a counter-attacking century to put the Indian bowlers on the backfoot.
The right-hander stayed unbeaten on 148 off 208 balls to take England to 316/6 at stumps on Day 3, ensuring a lead of 126 runs in the second innings for the visitors.
Pope’s knock, laced with sweeps, reverse sweeps and switch hits, took the Indian spinners by surprise. Explaining the game on-air, veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle said that while it made for enthralling viewing, it was not necessarily fair on the bowlers.
Harsha’s assessment didn’t sit well with former England skipper Kevin Pietersen, who himself was a fine player of the reverse sweep and switch hits back in his days.
“It’s 3:25 local time and I’m off downstairs because you’re talking rubbish,” Pietersen said while commentating.
After the close of play on Day 3 in Hyderabad, Harsha Bhogle gave a proper explanation of his on-air comment on social media platform X.
“Absolute nonsense! If you want to switch hit, allow a bowler to bowl with both hands. Because something is difficult, it doesn’t make it acceptable. The bowler has to inform the umpire if he wants to bowl left-handed, the batsman must have the same condition. May the debate continue,” Harsha wrote.
This was not the first time Harsha Bhogle expressed his reservations against the switch hit. Back in 2020, he endorsed Ian Chappell’s opinion on the switch hit after the former Australian captain asked the ICC to make the shot ‘illegal’.
Chappell made this statement when Australian batters Glenn Maxwell and David Warner had amassed plenty of runs with this shot in an ODI series against India.
“It’s very simple. Maxwell hit a couple of (switch-hit) shots and Warner did… All you’ve got to say is that if the batsman changes the order of his hands or his feet (as the bowler runs in), then it’s an illegal shot,” Chappell had told Wide World of Sports.
