Hussain Slams Shubman Gill's Captaincy: 'Handed Back Rishabh Pant's Runs'
Former England captain Nasser Hussain was critical of Shubman Gill's captaincy and India's bowling in the Old Trafford Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy on Thursday (July 24). He said the bowlers were 'very poor' with their lines in England's first innings, while Gill's decision to give the new ball to debutant Anshul Kamboj over Mohammed Siraj was 'odd', with the combination just 'giving back' the hard-earned runs.
Batting seemed much more difficult when India were bowled out for 358 in the first innings. Only three batters crossed the 50-run mark, including Pant, who was retired-hurt due to a foot fracture on Wednesday, and came back limping when India were six wickets down to reach a 75-ball 54. In reply, the visitors failed to pick any wickets in the 14 overs they bowled in the second session. England eventually went to stumps at a cozy 225/2.
'Slightly changing conditions, but they bowled very poorly," Hussain told Sky Sports after the second session. '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," he added.
'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 Stokes bowled and got his fifer, and got uneven bounce and sideways movement. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong… Rishabh Pant went out there on one leg, and got valuable runs today. They've just handed those runs back to England."
Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley put up a 166-run stand which was broken by spinner Ravindra Jadeja in the 32nd over, deep into the final session of the day. Kamboj was brought back for a second spell and took the important wicket of Gill but Joe Root and Ollie Pope survived some more harmless bowling.
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