Shubman Gill slammed for ‘letting England off the hook’, ex-India pacer highlights ‘your pacers can’t touch 145 kmph’

Shubman Gill slammed for ‘letting England off the hook’ (BCCI Photo)

Former India and England cricketers slammed the tactics of Shubman Gill, stating that it "allowed" Jamie Smith and Harry Brook to counter-attack the opposition on Day 3 of the second Test. Mohammed Siraj provided India a fantastic start by getting rid of Joe Root (22) and Ben Stokes (0) off consecutive balls in the second over, which reduced England to 84/5, still 503 runs behind India's first-inning total. From there, England passed the 350-run milestone without losing any wicket, featuring a ruthless show by Brook and Smith and aided by some defensive strategies from India.

Both Smith and Brook have now put up a fiery stand of over 270 runs, with the former also smashing the fastest century by an England wicketkeeper and the third-fastest by an English batter off just 80 balls. Brook also reached his ninth Test century.

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Former India pacer Varun Aaron claimed that once Ben Stokes was removed, India became overconfident and distanced itself from the Test-match length deliveries, while adopting the short-ball tactic.

“I think India allowed this counterpunch by the English batsmen. If you see what worked really well for India last evening and even this morning, it was bowling at the right length. But the moment India got Stokes' wicket, they got a bit too aggressive on a flat wicket," Aaron said on JioHotstar.

Aaron claimed that there was little use in bowling so many bouncers, which Smith and Brook mostly handled with vicious pulls since India lacked a seamer capable of bowling at 145 km/h.

"Too many bouncers, too many short balls. On a slow pitch, when none of your bowlers are consistently pushing the 145 kph mark, you cannot afford to bowl that many short deliveries. Indian bowlers have the skill to keep it on that ideal length — keep hitting the stumps. Sustained pressure is what gets you wickets. You can't expect things to happen immediately all the time," he added.

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Former England batsman Jonathan Trott also highlighted Indian captain Shubman Gill of "letting off the hook" after his team's outstanding start on Friday.

“That partnership at the start was very much under pressure, but as soon as India switched to the short-ball tactic, it actually let the English batsmen off the hook. They’re always going to take the short ball on. And once the runs started flowing — as anyone who's watched cricket knows — that’s when the pressure starts to ease, and they can play their natural game. Even if one of them gets caught on the boundary, it’s not a big deal. The next guy will come in and likely do the same thing," said Trott.

Aaron, however, was gushing about Smith's blistering century, the second of his career. “Jamie Smith is a gifted and very brave batter. He’s not hesitating to take on the challenge at all. With almost six to seven fielders packed on the leg side, it takes real courage to play those shots — it shows how much belief he has in his ability and the trust the team has placed in him. He’s a talented player, not just in red-ball cricket but in the white-ball format too. Bright days ahead — but he’ll need to convert this into a daddy hundred.”