India spearhead Ravichandran Ashwin has apparently criticized Rohit Sharma for his captaincy on the second day of the ongoing third Test against England in Rajkot.
The Indian captain is facing criticism from various quarters for slowing down the spinners, especially Ravichandran Ashwin, and allowing the English openers to score at a good pace in the first 10 or so overs. While Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj troubled Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett with the new ball, the openers quickly found their feet.
Duckett hit Bumrah for two fours in the fifth over and didn’t look back. Kuldeep Yadav came into the attack in the seventh over, but it didn’t make much difference. When he finished the 10th over, England had raced to 67 runs and Duckett scored 50 of those runs in just 39 balls.
Hurrah! Powerplay done and Ashwin can be given the ball.
76/0 after 11 overs, forget about making things happen, you’ve just allowed them to get off to a great start and now all the pressure is on the bowler. Making it much harder for you.
– Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) February 16, 2024
Rohit finally introduced Ravichandran Ashwin into the attack in the 12th over and the senior spinner made an instant impact. In his second over, he dismissed the dangerous Crawley to give India their much-needed first breakthrough.
Ravichandran Ashwin on his late introduction:
Speaking at the post-day press conference, Ravichandran Ashwin made it clear that he was introduced late into the attack, saying he would have preferred to bowl to Duckett when he was new to the crease, rather than when he had already reached his half. century.
“I really would have liked to bowl him when he was at 0 and not at 60-70 runs. He is a very different player to play with when he has 60-70 runs. A couple of sweeps he made were really special.
But then again, Ben Duckett is a phenomenal talent for England, he has scored a wonderful hundred today. I wanted to applaud Ben Duckett but I didn’t. The hardcore competitor in me did not allow me to clap, but still, next time I will try to face him again,” said Ravichandran Ashwin at the press conference at the end of Day 2.
Duckett scored an impressive century and was unbeaten on 133 at the end of the day. England were 207 for 2 in just 35 overs in response to India’s first innings total of 445. Meanwhile, India will be without Ashwin for the rest of the ongoing game as the spinner has withdrawn from the team due to a family medical emergency.