TV
In reply to India's first innings score of 587, England gave a strong reply and were 392 for the loss of six wickets as per the latest report in the second Test at Edgbaston on Friday.
Once the hosts were in a great spot of bother as they had lost five wickets just for 84 runs on the board. However, the Indian bowlers let them off the hook by bowling too many short balls. The visitors have been criticised for their bowling tactic as they allowed England to come back into the match.
Former England batter Jonathan Trott said India's overuse of the short-ball tactic played a key role in Jamie Smith and Harry Brook unleashing a fearless counter-attack.
"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," he added," he said.
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"But the moment India got Stokes' wicket, they got a bit too aggressive on a flat wicket. 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.
