Ricky Ponting didn’t mince his words when it came to India’s bowling plans on the second day of the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford.
Despite the conditions not being as conducive to India as they were to England, India struggled, especially with the new ball. The Indian seamers weren’t accurate and allowed England’s openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley to score freely. That put a lot of pressure on captain Shubman Gill.
Ponting wasn’t impressed with India’s strategy. He questioned the decision to give the new ball to debutant Anshul Kamboj instead of Mohammed Siraj. While Bumrah controlled England’s scoring, Kamboj was hit hard.
They were giving runs on both sides of the field. We talked about how they bowled to Pope and I think their tactics were off. I didn’t think Kamboj should have opened the bowling. Duckett scored five of his first six boundaries behind the leg side. So, they made a tactical error, Ponting said on Sky Sports.
Ponting also questioned Bumrah’s end of the pitch. He felt Bumrah should have been at the other end.
I think Bumrah is bowling from the wrong end. Most of the wickets have come from the Statham end but he’s been bowling from the Anderson end. So, their execution and tactics have been a bit off, he said.
After India scored 358, Duckett (94) and Crawley (84) put on a 166-run opening stand before Jadeja got the breakthrough. Jadeja got Crawley to edge a drive to KL Rahul. Kamboj then got Duckett out, denying him a century, with a catch to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel for his first Test wicket. England ended the day at 225/2, 133 runs behind.
