Kevin Pietersen fired shots at Rohit Sharma for being ‘too defensive’ on day 4 of 2nd Test
At stumps on day 3, England had 9 wickets in hand with 332 runs more to win the second Test match against England. With the wicket not getting any better on day four, India had the chance to win the Test and level the series.
However, Kevin Pietersen wasn’t happy with Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in the first session of day four on Monday. After Zak Crawley had hit three successive boundaries in the third over, Rehan Ahmed hit two consecutive fours on the first two balls in the next over off Axar Patel.
Kevin Pietersen Criticizes Rohit Sharma’s Captaincy on Day 4
Kevin Pietersen took the opportunity to fire shots at Rohit Sharma for his ‘defensive’ captaincy. He made the following comments during commentary:
“Have a look at the captaincy from Rohit Sharma,” Pietersen said. “Why is long on back? Why is mid-off back? Why be so defensive straight away when England still need way over 300 runs to win this Test match? Keep Rehan Ahmed on strike, he’s hit two fours yes but he should have been out first ball of the day. The first boundary he did hit this morning wasn’t convincing at all, he’s just tipped it away now to a wide mid-on.”
“Ben Stokes yesterday was brilliant at the start, he made a mistake when he allowed manipulation of the field by batters picking up singles. He decided no way I’m going to let the batter go and what happened? He broke the partnership and he got wickets, he made things happen. I don’t like how negative this is.”
Following a half hour of play, Axar Patel had Rehan Ahmed leg-before for 23. India made a comeback thereafter as England went on to lose four wickets for 154 runs. They dealt with a massive blow when Zak Crawley (73) departed off Kuldeep Yadav to leave the team in all sorts of trouble at 194 for 5.
The eighth partnership of 55 runs between Fen Foakes and Tom Hartley kept England’s hopes alive for some time but it didn’t last long, either. England, eventually, got all out for 292 runs, handing India a 106-run win.
Thanks to Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, India levelled the series 1-1 with three Tests left to be played. The third Test match is slated to take place from 15th to 19th February 2024 at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.
IND vs ENG 2nd Test Brief Scores
India: 396 (Jaiswal 209, Anderson 3/47) & 255 (Gill 104, Hartey 4/77) beat England: 253 (Crawley 76, Bumrah 6/45) & 292 (Crawley 73, Bumrah 3/46) by 106 runs.
Player of the Match: Jasprit Bumrah
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