India suffered another afternoon of absolute nightmare against England at the Headingley Stadium in Leeds. On Day 1 of the third Test, captain Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first. However, several batsmen were guilty of throwing their wickets away and India were cleaned up for just 78 runs on the board, their lowest total in England.
James Anderson, who had been in the headlines after the Lord’s Test for the wrong reasons showed his class once again and reduced India to 21 for 3 pretty quickly. Only two Indian batsmen managed to get into double digits with Rohit Sharma being the top-scorer.
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria was critical of the shot selection of the Indian batsmen. He suggested that they were trying to play shots that is not suitable in English conditions. While speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaneria cited the example of Rishabh Pant and said that he needs to understand how the balls act in England.
“The selection of the Indian batting was really pathetic. Seriously, because they batted poorly today. You cannot play away from the body in England. Australia is a different proposition, there is bounce, but there is not much swing or seam. Pant has to play closer to the body in England.”
James Anderson was heavily trolled after his squabbles with Jasprit Bumrah in the Lord’s Test. Letting it get the better of him, he completely lost the plot while bowling to the Indian tail on Day 5 of that match. On this particular occasion, however, Anderson was his usual best. He wreaked havoc on the Indian top-order with a sensational spell.
“Batsmen cannot play open, expansive drives over there. Look at KL Rahul for instance, he went to drive a full ball outside the off stump and lost his wicket. Then came Pujara, after bringing several deliveries into him, Anderson made one to move away and he got the wicket. Virat Kohli resisted a lot, showed a lot of patience but succumbed to a relatively straight ball in the end.”
Danish Kaneria believes that India is capable of turning the situation around. He pointed out the example of how the team bounced back after being bowled out for 36 in the Adelaide Test to win the Test series in Australia. However, this time the impetus will need to come from the batsmen instead of the bowlers.
“Even here I feel that the Indian team needs a miracle and that miracle needs to come from the batting unit. It will not happen from the bowlers because they will do their job on Day 2. They got out for 78, where it should not have happened. They batted poorly after electing to bat first,” he concluded.
