Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott is the latest addition to the list of individuals questioning the Ben Stokes-led side’s performance in Test cricket.
Boycott acknowledged his side’s aggressive form of cricket and said that the English cricket team deserved praise for the entertaining gameplay. But at the same time, the ex-cricketer stated that he loves winning more.
In his column for The Telegraph, he wrote, “Bazball has given Test cricket a shot in the arm and England deserves praise for that. At times, I love it. But I love winning more and England has failed to beat the best two teams in the world: Australia and now India”.
Geoffrey Boycott is referring to England drawing the Ashes early last year against Australia. While playing at home, the Brendon McCullum-coached side failed to win the Ashes, as the Aussies retained the prized trophy by levelling the series 2-2. In his article, Boycott said, “The batting cost them winning the Ashes.”
While talking about the fourth Test between India and England, Geoffrey Boycott felt that Ben Stokes made a big error by opting to open the bowling with two spinners – Joe Root and Tom Hartley. Defending a total of 192, in the fourth Test played in Ranchi, the English bowling attack did pick up five wickets but that was certainly not enough to avoid a defeat.
“England only had 192 to defend. I like Stokes’s captaincy but I thought he made a big error by opening the bowling with two spinners, Root and Tom Hartley. In 25 minutes at the end of day three India easily scored 40 priceless runs. What is just as important is that it gave their innings momentum. It was imperative to make runs hard to come by,” Geoffrey Boycott wrote.
Instead, Geoffrey Boycott felt that the England skipper should have deployed James Anderson to open the bowling in the second innings as the ace pacer does not have a habit of leaking too many runs. Team India skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill emerged as the saviours for the hosts as they scored a half-century each in the second innings of the fourth Test.
Young India wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel also came up with a handy unbeaten knock of 39. In the first innings of the Ranchi Test, Jurel had exhibited his stupendous form with another terrific knock of 90. With the Test series already clinched by India, Rohit Sharma’s men will now be determined to carry forward the winning momentum in the final game scheduled to start on March 7 in Dharamsala.
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