Indian legend Ravichandran Ashwin took a dig at Shubman Gill’s captaincy during the ongoing fifth Test against England at The Oval. He pointed out tactical mistakes and poor game awareness as key reasons for India trailing 1-2 in the series. Ashwin noted that the team has lacked sharpness overall but added that Gill is still learning and will improve with experience.
“Why India are not ahead in this series and England are, is only because of our lack of game awareness and in many ways our tactical acumen on the field and off it as well. We haven’t been the sharpest. I think Shubman Gill is going to get better as a captain and will learn,” he said on ‘Ash ki Baat‘.
Ashwin criticised India for bringing spin too late on Day 4, with Sundar bowling only after 42 overs and both spinners delivering just four overs each. He felt spin should’ve been used when Brook was attacking the pacers.
“Sometimes as a captain when you think you can play spin well, you will not bring on the spinner. And when you miss the moment to bring the spinner in the right situation, it then becomes a defensive option. When Harry Brook started taking it on, you could have bowled a spinner from one end and choked him. Spin should have come fast and this trick was missed in the last game as well,” he added.
Indian Great Ashwin Reflects On The Lost Art Of Pressure Bowling
Ravichandran Ashwin noted that India failed to build pressure on the batters, a problem seen in many teams. He stressed the importance of bowling with rhythm to build pressure, warning that focusing only on wickets often leads to leaking runs.
“Such a big score on this pitch, it is a lot of runs. They find themselves in this hole because bowling to build pressure is a lost art. It’s not only for India, many teams are struggling. This is called defensive pressure building. Because of T20, we just look to take wickets. If you only bowl for wickets, you will give many runs.”
“Wickets fall when you build pressure and a rhythm. Prasidh got the wicket because he got into a good rhythm and Siraj bowled a maiden over. We are not setting the right fields and bowling defensively at the right time,” he explained.
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