On Day 3 of the second Test of the current five-match series between England and India, former Indian cricketer Varun Aaron thought the Indian spinners became a little too eager on an Edgbaston track, which did not help them much. Given that Harry Brook and Jamie Smith amassed a record 303 runs for the sixth wicket, he believed that India’s too forceful bowling style gave them the chance to seize control of the game.
“I believe that India permitted the English batsmen to counterattack. As you can see, bowling at the proper length was what India did so brilliantly last night and even this morning.
However, India became a little too aggressive on a flat wicket after taking Stokes’ wicket,” Varun Aaron said on JioHotstar.
On a sluggish wicket that necessitated bowling stump-to-stump more than anything else, Varun Aaron also thought the Indian bowling unit overdone the short-ball strategy.
“There are too many short balls and bouncers. You cannot afford to bowl that many short deliveries on a slow pitch when none of your bowlers are regularly hitting 145 kph. Indian bowlers are skilled at striking the stumps repeatedly to maintain the ball at the perfect length. Getting wickets requires consistent pressure. You can’t always count on things to happen right away,” he continued.
In just the second over of play, Mohammed Siraj got rid of Ben Stokes (zero off one) and Joe Root (22 off 46) in consecutive deliveries, giving India an incredible start to the morning. But Brook and Smith’s outstanding combination enabled England escape their predicament. After the early strikes, their aggressive batting made sure the Indians never found a rhythm with the ball and kept the scoreboard moving.
After the Tea break, Akash Deep hit with a delivery that broke through Brook’s bat after nipping back sharply off the deck, ending the sixth-wicket stand after the two had combined for 303 runs. With 234 deliveries, Brook left for 158 of them.
Home