Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has criticized Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for not making the most of the conditions in Hyderabad. India lost the first Test by 28 runs and are trailing in the five-match series.
Ashwin and Jadeja took three wickets each in the first innings while Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah took two each. In the second innings when the pitch was assisting the spinners more than it did in the first innings, Ashwin took three wickets while Jadeja took two and Axar just one for 74 runs.
Chopra was critical of the Indian spinners just taking 14 wickets in the match while the much inexperienced England spinners took 18. Tom Hartley on debut took seven wickets and 7 wickets in the second innings to help England win the match. This was after he went for 131 runs in 25 overs in the first innings.
“Bumrah picked up four wickets. It was the fourth day of a Test match in India where the talk was about the turn, there your fast bowler picked up four wickets, and six wickets in the entire match. You had superior spin but the opposing spinners took 18 Indian wickets and the Indian spinners could take only 14 wickets” said Chopra.
He further criticized the Indian spinners for not making the most of the conditions in the second inning. England scored 420 in their second innings riding on Ollie Pope’s brilliant 196. The England batters batted in partnerships and mastered the art of playing spin with some unorthodox shots.
“In the second innings, the Indian spinners could pick up only six wickets. That was a bit of a problem in my opinion. Jasprit Bumrah is phenomenal, there is no doubt about that, but what are the others doing – that’s a question,” the former India opener added.
Also Read: “Rohit Sharma was reactive, very average, and didn’t have any answer to Ollie Pope..”- Michael Vaughan
India Thought 230 Is Not A Big Score: Aakash Chopra
Anaysing India’s loss Chopra further said that the Men in Blue did not think that 230 is a big total as they allowed singles to be taken easily questioning India’s defensive field placements on day four.
“The Indian team were thinking that 230 is not that big a score. That’s why, they allowed singles to be taken easily. The mid-on and mid-off were back and everyone was waiting for a wicket to fall. They waited before taking the new ball as well” added Chopra.
The cricketer-turned-commentator said that England could have been more dangerous had they scored more in the first innings. The visitors scored 247 in the first innings a phase when India were on top in the Test match.
“The opposing team showed that they can take you on. They would think that if they had played better in the first innings, they could have troubled India even more. They did this after conceding a lead of 190 runs” concluded the former Indian opener.
India have dropped to the fifth position on the WYC points table after the first Test loss in Hyderabad. England have accumulated some crucial points but are still placed eighth. The second Test begins in Vizag on February 2.
Also Read: Joe Root is Ben Stokes’ 3rd or 4th spinner, he’s operating with slender resources in India..”- Michael Atherton
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