Former captain Alastair Cook has criticized England's batting performance on Day 3 of the ongoing third Test of the five-match Test series against India in Rajkot on February 17.
Team India managed to bowl out England for 319 runs in their first innings at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Saturday. Cook expressed disappointment with England's batting display, saying they can’t win too many matches with such collapses.
England began the day at 207 for 2, trailing India by 238 runs after an impressive batting performance from opener Ben Duckett, who recorded the fastest Test century by an England batter in India.
However, on Day 3, England suffered a collapse, losing eight wickets for just 112 runs, and ultimately they were dismissed for 319 runs by India, to concede a lead of 126 runs in the Rajkot Test.
Alastair Cook was quoted as saying by Sky Sports: “My shout [from yesterday] of 'they could score 800 tomorrow is not looking too good - I'm only 481 off. Is it an opportunity lost? England have been poor with the bat - they've lost eight wickets for 116 (112) today and you don't win many matches when you collapse like that in the first innings.”
The former captain added, “To win Test matches you have to be good for such long periods of time. India were poor yesterday but they've been very, very good today.”
Cook also slammed Joe Root (18) for losing his wicket to Jasprit Bumrah for the 9th time by playing a reverse ramp shot in the first session. He noted, “You have to question if it was tactically right to play that shot. You've got Bumrah, who is India's best bowler, and Root has struggled playing against him.”
He signed off by saying, “When he played it in the Ashes on the first ball on day three at Edgbaston, we didn't mind because it was about getting runs. But in this series, when all the wickets have been in the first 30 minutes of play, it was the wrong time to play it.”
