Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting expressed his disapproval of Indian skipper Shubman Gill’s choice to hand the new ball to debutant Anshul Kamboj on Day 2 of the Manchester Test against England. According to Ponting, India not only made a poor tactical call but also struggled with the execution of their bowling plans.
England took control of proceedings on the second day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester on Thursday, July 24. After resuming their innings at 264/4, India were dismissed for 358. In response, England reached 225/2 at stumps in just 46 overs, with openers Ben Duckett (94) and Zak Crawley (84) putting on a dominant 166-run partnership in 32 overs.
Speaking on Sky Sports Cricket after the day’s play, Ponting criticized Shubman Gill’s leadership and India’s overall bowling effort, stating:
“I think they were tactically off as well. Kamboj shouldn’t have taken the new ball. I didn’t like that from the start. Five of Duckett’s first six boundaries were behind square leg, so tactically they were wrong. I think Bumrah is bowling from the wrong end. Most of the wickets have fallen from the Statham end and he’s done most of his work bowling from the Anderson end.”
#AnshulKamboj, welcome to Test cricket!
Opens his wicket tally in style by removing a well-set Ben Duckett. 💥#ENGvIND 👉 4th TEST, DAY 2 | LIVE NOW on JioHotstar 👉 https://t.co/Y3btplYguV pic.twitter.com/aXAsyVjKjw
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 24, 2025
“Not Up To Test Standards” – Stuart Broad On India’s Day 2 Bowling In Manchester
Former England pacer Stuart Broad, echoing Ricky Ponting’s views, also criticised India’s bowling display on Day 2 of the Manchester Test. Broad remarked that the performance on Thursday fell below the standards expected at the Test level. He stated:
“Really poor. When your batters get you a score that is slightly above par in the conditions they had to bat in, you’ve got a responsibility as a bowling group to put the opposition team under pressure. The amount of balls down the leg side, Duckett could just clip it. It was unacceptable at Test match level. You see that at lower levels. I don’t think he [Duckett] he had to work particularly hard for his runs.”
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