After Shubman Gill’s team lost the third Test match against England by 22 runs at the storied Lord’s Cricket Ground, Mohammad Azharuddin took a swing at the Indian batsmen.
Except for KL Rahul, none of the top-order batsmen were able to demonstrate any notable resilience when chasing a 193-run goal in the fourth innings. With the exception of nightwatchman Akash Deep, India lost the wickets of Shubman, Karun Nair, and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the last session on Day 4. Following the encounter, Shubman also claimed that the visitors did not have the kind of partnerships they would have desired.
“We didn’t bat well, in my opinion. We didn’t bat well in the second innings, don’t you think? As you can see, we ended up losing four wickets. It was always going to be difficult, not simple, as the fifth day approached. As they say, we needed some good alliances.
“After the event, you can always say anybody can be wise,” NDTV Sports cited Azharuddin as saying.
In addition, the former captain of India praised the tailenders for their valiant performance on Day 5. Despite his undefeated half-century, Ravindra Jadeja lost partners at the other end. Jadeja could have attempted to attack England spinners Joe Root and Shoaib Bashir a little more, according to Azharuddin. He added that England was able to control the ball because of the Indian hitters.
“I have to acknowledge and commend the tailenders for putting up such a valiant front. Ravindra Jadeja was a very good batsman. However, I believed that he might have pursued Root and Bashir throughout those four to five overs when they were bowling. The task would have been considerably simpler if he had received an additional 15 to 20 runs. We can’t be critical of his batting. He stood there like a rock while batting, and the Indian team didn’t get much of a result in the end. In the second inning, we struggled. Rahul was also a good batsman. However, we eventually let skilled bowlers take over,” he continued.
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