Former England Captain Michael Atherton believes that Indian batsmen tend to be more generous after getting a good start to their innings. He also thinks that players like Virat Kohli would not throw away their wicket after being well-settled in the middle.
In the game against England in Hyderabad, most of the Indian batsmen got off to a good start before giving away their wickets. Although India might have put themselves in a commanding position in the game, the Indian batsmen would feel that they could have performed better once they were settled in. Except for Ashwin, all the other Indian batsmen had a good start to their innings, with Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, and Ravindra Jadeja being dismissed in their 80s.
In his column for The Times, Former England captain Michael Atherton described the Indian batsmen as “generous” and said Kohli would never have thrown it away like Jaiswal and Rahul. The Cricketer-turned-commentator hailed KL Rahul for his brilliant batting performance despite not scoring a century, getting out to Tom Hartley’s bowling.
“They were fortunate that India’s top order were in a generous mood but the situation at the close was very bad even so, and could have been even worse. It is hard to imagine that Virat Kohli would have been as obliging as his team-mates were here, and the biggest culprit was his replacement at No. 4, the stylish and gifted KL Rahul, who had a hundred for the taking before hammering a long-hop from Tom Hartley into the deep,” Michael Atherton said.
KL Rahul scored 86 runs off 123 balls, including two sixes and eight boundaries, providing much-needed stability to the side in the absence of Virat Kohli. He was on track to score a century but was dismissed by debutant Tom Hartley. However, the Men In Blue are in a dominating position in the game after securing a 190-run lead in the 1st innings.
Jack Leach Has Been Something Of A Pet Project For Ben Stokes – Michael Atherton
Michael Atherton also expressed concern about the deployment of experienced England spinner Jack Leach in the match, who has been Ben Stokes’ go-to bowler in red-ball cricket and believes he was bowled in short spells throughout the first innings, casting doubt on his fitness for the game.
“The most puzzling aspect revolved around the deployment of Jack Leach, England’s most experienced spinner. Until now, Leach has been something of a pet project for Ben Stokes and, in response to the many shows of faith, Leach has responded by growing in stature and confidence”.
“Here, though, he was sparingly used, bowling only two overs in the morning and seven in the afternoon, the latter spread over three spells. All told, he bowled 16 overs in the day in six spells, his longest being of four overs,” Michael Atherton added.
Jack Leach, who missed the entire Ashes series last summer due to a stress fracture in his back, remained on the field and came on six times in an attempt to interrupt India’s march to a massive 421 for seven on Day 2 but could not make an impact for the team on the conditions that favoured the spinners.
