Former England international Mark Butcher criticised Ravindra Jadeja for his "poor" bowling in the fourth innings of India's defeat to England in the first Test at Headingley.
In the first of five Tests on Shubman Gill's first tour as India Test captain, the visitors succumbed to a five-wicket defeat as England completed a chase of 371 after tea on the final day.
1st Test, England vs India
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Despite dominating for long periods, India repeatedly let their advantages slip with several dropped catches, and virtually no batting contribution from their tail-enders.
In a relatively inexperienced XI, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja stood out as the senior-most player, but his influence on this match was limited, scoring 11 & 25* with the bat, and returning figures of 0-68 & 1-104. The latter came after England opener Ben Duckett scored freely off his bowling in England's chase, peppering the off-side boundary in particular with a variety of reverse sweeps.
Butcher: Like owning a hammer but punching nails in with your fist
“I could not believe how poorly he bowled, really,” said former England batter Mark Butcher on the Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast. “I'd likened it to owning a hammer but punching nails in with your fist instead – not landing the ball in the rough at all until, basically, it was too late. That was extraordinary, really.
“You talk about experience, and he has all the experience in the world. Somehow, it didn't seem to click to him or Rishabh Pant, the keeper, that it might be a good idea not to keep missing the rough all day to the left-handers.”
Both Pant, and skipper Gill, were caught on stump mics repeatedly asking Jadeja to vary his bowling speeds during the run chase, but to no avail, with the keeper even quipping at one point, “He never bowls slow!”
Butcher also pointed to India's selection, specifically of Shardul Thakur, as one of the reasons they looked ineffective for long spells during the game: “The issue around the lineup itself... how much more interesting might that last day have been had they gone for Kuldeep [Yadav] instead of [Shardul] Thakur, Thakur had had a really poor game until that one over where he gave India a tiny sniff at the back-end.
“If you're not contributing with the bat down there at No.8, you damn well be taking wickets, and be in the game as a bowler for more of the game than he was.”
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