Alastair Cook clarifies the five-run punishment given to India, saying, “It’s a tactical ploy to disturb middle of the wicket.”

India found themselves in serious trouble during the third Test match in Rajkot, courtesy of the comments of former England captain Sir Alastair Cook, who described the incident as a “tactical ploy.” This was a surprising turn of events. Cook feels that the incident in question—in which India was penalized five runs for running on the wicket—was a planned move intended to favor the Indian spinners.

India was given the penalty after R. Ashwin ran in the middle of the pitch while batting, adopting Ravindra Jadeja’s strategy. Not missing the opportunity, umpire Joel Wilson awarded England a five-run penalty, giving them an unexpected early advantage of 5-0 when they started their innings.

Cook offered commentary on the TNT Sports telecast, explaining how England players Joe Root and Ollie Pope alerted the umpires to India’s violations. What went viral, though, was Cook’s assertion that this was a planned manipulation of the playing circumstances rather than an unintentional slip by the Indian pair.

Is it on purpose? It is, indeed. You can use this as a tactical technique to disrupt Ashwin’s middle of the wicket because he wants as much assistance as possible when he bowls. It usually occurs around the third inning.

Alastair Cook said, “You think, ‘Lads, just make sure you get up and down the wicket,’ when you’re 150 or 200 runs ahead.”

You’re disrupting the surface if you’re only moving a little bit more up and down there. Prepare food. Cook, referencing his playing career, said he will use this strategy, emphasizing how Essex won the 2019 County Championship title with the assistance of spinner Simon Harmer.

Simon Harmer was with us at Essex. Because of Simon Harmer, who bowled a lot of off-spin to right-handers, we won a lot of cricket matches. In the third inning, there is no regulation dictating where a batsman may retreat. Thus, it stands to reason that our batsmen—I’m presumably patching up Essex for next year—would ensure that the naturally occurring footmarks are preserved. If you simply go up and down the area a little bit more, you’re upsetting the surface. Cook continued, “That was just gamesmanship there.