IND vs ENG 4th Test: Ricky Ponting shares what would be England's plan on Day 3 against India
India were on the back foot at the end of Day 2 in the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford, Manchester, and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting didn't hold back in his criticism of the visitors' bowling performance.
Speaking on Sky Sports Cricket ahead of Day 3, Ponting tore into India's lack of bite with the ball on a day when England's openers put on a commanding 166-run stand.
"Now, just thinking about these batting conditions today. I mean, England definitely got the better of it yesterday, and we could see from the morning session to the afternoon just how much the wicket and conditions changed. So, batting conditions probably won't get any better than they are right now," said Ponting on what India can expect on Friday.
"We've got two class players at the crease. India need to find a way early today to get themselves back into this game. If they don't take early wickets today, this game is slipping away really, really quickly," he warned.
"On a wicket with this sunshine on it today, we saw Jadeja turn a couple late yesterday afternoon. It's not going to get easy to bat on late in this game. So England, I'm sure, would have gone to bed last night thinking about the possibility of only batting once in this Test match.
They'll want to bat long today, get through the day, get a huge first innings total."
"Not the best thing to listen to if you're an Indian fan, but the fact is that it is very true to what could happen," said the former Australia skipper.
India were bowled out for 358 earlier in the day despite a brave effort from Rishabh Pant, who walked in with a fractured toe to score 54 off 75 balls. The wicketkeeper-batter had retired hurt on Day 1 but returned to a standing ovation, adding crucial runs in the lower order.
England responded aggressively, reaching 225/2 at stumps in just 46 overs. Openers Ben Duckett (94) and Zak Crawley (84) led the charge before Ravindra Jadeja and debutant Anshul Kamboj finally provided breakthroughs.
With Ollie Pope (20*) and Joe Root (11*) unbeaten at the crease, England trailed India by just 133 runs and looked well set to dictate the Test heading into Day 3.
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