Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has given his honest opinion on the performance of the Indian seamers on day 2 of the fourth Test in Manchester. England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett added a 166-run opening stand in just 31 overs.
England finished day 2 on 225 runs for two wickets in just 46 overs, scoring at a run-rate of almost five runs per over. Courtesy of the start given by the openers, England are just trailing by 133 runs from India’s first innings score of 354 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah bowled 13 overs, giving away 37 runs without a wicket. Mohammed Siraj bowled 10 overs for 58 runs, while Anshul Kamboj bowled 10 overs for 48 runs. Sharul Thakur was used for just five overs, giving away 35 runs, while Washington Sundar was not used at all on day two by Shubman Gill.
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Would Have Bowled Siraj Along With Bumrah - Nasser Hussain
The wicket finally came from Jadeja, who broke the opening partnership with Zak Crawley, falling for 85 runs. Ben Duckett was dismissed by Kamboj just six runs short of his hundred. Meanwhile, Nasser Husain was particularly unhappy with Mohammed Siraj not taking the new ball with Bumrah. Gill handed over the new ball to the debutant Kamboj with Bumrah bowling from the other end.
“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.
“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 (Ben) Stokes bowled and got his fifer, and got uneven bounce and sideways movement. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong,” Hussain said.
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India Handed Pant's Runs To England- Hussain
The former England skipper further said that India handed over the runs scored by Rishabh Pant almost freely to England. He scored 54 runs off 75 balls with a broken toe.
“Rishabh Pant went out there on one leg, and got valuable runs today. They've just handed those runs back to England,” Hussain added.
England are solidly placed before the start of the third day’s play in Manchester. They would like to complete the deficit quickly and build on a massive lead with wickets in hand.
Also Read: Ravi Shastri fumes 'rubbish' after India's pace trio Siraj, Kamboj & Bumrah let England score freely
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