 "Shubman Gill and Nasser Hussain in the frame. AFP")
England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett rendered England a gorgeous start in response to India’s 1st innings total of 358. The duo batted effortlessly, contrasting sharply with India’s struggles, and put India on the back foot in Manchester.
England’s batting success was compounded by India’s poor bowling, particularly in terms of line and length. Former England captain Nasser Hussain attributed India’s struggles to captain Shubman Gill’s decisions.
Hussain criticises Shubman Gill
Hussain threw scathing criticism at Gill for his “reactive and muddled” approach, particularly in how he used his bowling options up front. As conditions were still bowling-friendly, Hussain was baffled by India’s inability to exploit an ideal purchase from the wicket, and did not understand why Gill brought debutant Anshul Kamboj into the attack ahead of largely experienced Mohammed Siraj.
“Slightly changing conditions, but they bowled very poorly. A change in overhead conditions doesn’t make you bowl both sides of the wicket. Too many balls on the pads. Captain’s decisions… didn’t quite agree with, to be honest. Kamboj wasn’t in the squad a week ago, to bring him into the team and give him a new ball ahead of Siraj… seems odd,” Hussain told Sky Sports Cricket after the end of the second session.
“I would’ve gone for Siraj for a short burst, then switched him to the other end to follow Bumrah. We’ve all been talking about the green channel on the strip across… this is the end where Stokes bowled and got his fifer, and got uneven bounce and sideways movement. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.”
Pant’s effort wasted
Hussain went further hard on Gill and Co. for not making Rishabh Pant’s earlier heroics count. He was largely displeased with the side for giving England a massive edge in the match.
“Rishabh Pant went out there on one leg, and got valuable runs today. They’ve just handed those runs back to England,” said the former England captain.