Former England captain Nasser Hussain has questioned India captain Shubman Gill's tactics in the ongoing Old Trafford Test.
After being put in to bat, India scored 358 in the first innings, as Yashasvi Jaiswal (58), Sai Sudharsan (61) and Rishabh Pant (54) scored half-centuries.
But when they came out to bowl, the visitors' new-ball bowling let them down as England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett raced to 166 in 32 overs. England managed to bat the whole of day three, sending India's bowlers on a leather hunt.
By the time their innings ended early on day four, they had racked up 669, a lead of 311 runs as Joe Root (150) and Ben Stokes (141) scored centuries.
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At the end of the third day, former England captain Nasser Hussain questioned several of India's calls in the field.
Hussain: Five-Test series can grind you down
“What we have seen from India in this match is an example of how a five-Test series grinds you down,” Hussain wrote in The Daily Mail. “Their performance has been littered with mistakes by their captain Shubman Gill.”
Hussain picked out three specific tactics that might have cost India any hope of gaining the advantage. “Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh have been out on the field bowling before play each morning, so I don't know whether one of them was fit enough to play.
“Instead, they call in Anshul Kamboj, an interesting selection. Someone who stepped up from not being in the squad, to being in the team. That's a couple of big steps up. Then, they gave him the new ball as well. Sure, he might be a new ball bowler in domestic cricket, but when you turn up in international cricket others are ahead of you in the queue.”
Hussain criticised the choice of end for pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, noting that in the first innings, Ben Stokes had taken a five-for and got more from the wicket from the Brian Statham End, while Bumrah operated primarily from the James Anderson End.
Finally, as several broadcast commentators also mentioned, Hussain wondered why off spinner Washington Sundar, coming off 4-22 in the second innings at Lord's, did not bowl until the 69th over of England's innings: “It was astonishing. You could tell he was full of confidence by the way he spoke so boldly about winning at Lord's, after taking four wickets, and I haven't seen a spin bowler in England get such beautiful drift, even against the wind.”
India began batting again just before lunch on day four, and were rocked immediately as Chris Woakes got rid of Yashasvi Jaiswal and B Sai Sudharsan off consecutive deliveries in the first over, leaving the visitors potentially staring down the barrel of an innings defeat.
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