Frankly I think anyone would do what England did given the chance. Look at the changes England have had to make in their bowling ranks, fast bowlers go through a lot more overs than before as pitches all over the world have become more and more batsman-friendly.
Remains to be seen if anyone would do the same when given the situation from the Indian side. Not everyone takes stars padding with the same level of seriousness, even in a stats dominated sport such as cricket. It’s not like Washington Sundar is about to break any all time scoring records.
Tough for the batsmen out there at the moment, India have came back into the contest since lunch. Some more niggle between the teams, rarely see Root get as wound up as he did a few overs ago.
Don’t know why third umpires can’t call wides that are that obvious.
England’s tail could be what costs them in this match. Gave away loads of extras and contributed little with the bat. India’s three seamers have all been impressive since the lunch break.
A bit of sledging is one thing but being twats on the pitch is something else. Root wouldn’t have reacted like this unless they really said something out of order or vile. That’s not “just banter”. I was quite surprised by his reaction as were the tv commentators.
aussies are cunts, Indians are Disgraceful…English lads wouldnt react that way unless something serious was said…salt of the earth the english team…salt of the earth…always playing with honour and integrity
I think both sides are to blame, but it hasn’t been great watching the snide bickering in this series. Really the captains and coaches should have sat down and agreed to put a lid on it early on.
England are a man down and have Ollie Pope in their side, the man who is statistically one of the poorest 4th innings batters of all time. All the pressure will be on Root to anchor an innings and hope the others around him behave themselves and play sensibly.
But there’s a lot of time in this match. Two bowlers getting 50s for India probably means that the pitch is still good to bat.
England need to not lose their head in the first session. Wear out the bowlers and then milk the spinners. If they lose more than 2 in the first session , will be an uphill climb.
India had crap results with the toss. Absolutely no luck there at all. Their best cricket player is someone who can’t be relied to play all 5 tests in a series anymore.
One day of madness led to them not chasing a moderate total. The first test was on a disgrace of a pitch which didn’t degrade at all and offered nothing to bowlers of both sides. A target of 375 shouldn’t be so easily chased down.
They buckled down and ground out a draw when the series was on the line.
All things considered, the results notwithstanding, more indian cricketers had better series than the English ones. This is an Indian side rebuilding their batting line-up and having some doubts on their bowling capabilities (especially with the regular absences of bumrah).
I don’t see a potential upside for England at all. Maybe Smith and Tongue. Root is root but there seem to be more things to consider for the England team than for the Indian team.
If England struggle to win against a rebuilding Indian side (even if they do manage to win the series) , there is going to be carnage come the ashes.
