India’s poor batting display on Day 3 of the second Test against England has drawn criticism from Aakash Chopra. In their second inning, Rohit Sharma and co. were dismissed for 255 on Sunday, February 4, in Visakhapatnam. The visitors, chasing a 399-run target, finished the day at 67/1. India started day 3 on a bad note as James Anderson dismissed both openers early in the quick succession.
No other batters apart from Shubman Gill and Axar Patel contributed significantly to the team’s score, especially the middle-order batters Shreyas Iyer (29), Rajat Patidar (9), and Srikar Bharat (6), who were not able to put up a show with the bat.
I will still consider this as a batting failure – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra said that it was slightly heartbreaking to see that Indian team could be able to muster only 255 runs in the second innings of the test. Aakash Chopra expressed his dissatisfaction with India’s batting performance in a video that he posted on his YouTube channel. He stated (2:00):
“India lost all their 10 wickets on a flat Day 3 surface. They could make only 255 runs. It was slightly heartbreaking. I will still consider this as a batting failure. Yashasvi Jaiswal – 17, Rohit Sharma – 13, Shreyas Iyer – 29, Rajat Patidar – 9 and Srikar Bharat – 6,”
With the exception of Shubman Gill in the second innings and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first, the former India opener noted that the team’s batters had performed poorly. Of India’s 396 runs in the first innings, Jaiswal scored 209 runs. Of the 255 runs the squad scored in the second innings , Gill scored104 runs.
“Axar Patel did score runs in the middle. Yashasvi scored runs in the first innings and Shubman Gill scored a century in the second innings but the other players’ contribution has been extremely ordinary. It’s been four innings in this Test series and we haven’t seized the advantage even once,” he stated.
His front foot hadn’t moved much forward- Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma’s wicket
James Anderson’s dismissal of both Indian openers gave England the early breakthroughs, which Aakash Chopra appreciated. He mentioned (3:20):
“James Anderson is in a different world. He picked up two wickets. He comes and picks up wickets. The way he dismissed Rohit, the ball pitched, moved away and hit the top of off. A little less urgency was seen as the front foot hadn’t moved much forward. Then he dismissed Yashasvi as well.”
Ben Stokes was praised by the reputed commentator for his outstanding catch that resulted in Shreyas Iyer being dismissed. Chopra noted that India would have been thinking about 450 or 500 runs, but they could only set a 399-run target. He went on to say that there would be serious issues if the hosts kept batting in this manner on such placid wickets.
“There was a partnership between Shreyas and Shubman Gill. Then Ben Stokes caught Shreyas Iyer while running backwards. It was absolutely stellar. Then Rajat Patidar got out – not a good story. Axar and Shubman had a partnership. Then Gill committed a mistake, played a reverse sweep and got out,” Chopra elaborated.
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