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On day two of the fourth Test in the five-match series, for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, getting played at Old Trafford in Manchester, England took control of the contest after bowling out India for 358 runs in 114.1 overs in the first innings. The English openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett shared an opening stand of 166 runs in quick-time, going past their respective fifties before the team reached 225/2 total in just 46 overs at the close of play on day two in their first innings, trailing by 133 runs.
In the post-day press conference, Shardul Thakur fronted up for the Indian cricket team after scoring a valuable 41 off 88 with five fours before delivering five overs with the ball for 35 runs. When he was asked by one of the journalists about his role being quite limited as a bowler, the bowling all-rounder shifted the attention in the matter to his captain Shubman Gill, talking about how the decision to give overs rests on him.
Shardul Thakur’s blunt remark on his bowling role for the Indian cricket team read, as per Hindustan Times, “Giving bowling is the captain’s call. Not in my hands. The captain decides when to give them.. I could have bowled two overs more today but that is the captain’s call. It is difficult to find rhythm but I try and use my experience.” The 33-year-old wasn’t used much in his previous Test appearance in the series at Headingley in Leeds, while he didn’t have a good outing with the bat either.
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India need to fight back with ball on day three to stay in Manchester Test vs England
With India trailing 2-1 in the five-match Test series, and their position isn’t that good in the fourth Test, the bowlers need to step up for the team, to give them any chance of staying in the contest. The third day’s play will be very important for the Indian cricket team to make a comeback in the Test match and the series, especially when England are expected to come hard at them with the bat in their first innings with Joe Root and Ollie Pope still at the crease.
Also, it will be interesting to see how many overs Shubman Gill ends up giving to Shardul Thakur, especially with the ball being softer in the current stage of the England innings.
