Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes that England should bat into Day 3 of the fourth Test against India, accumulating a first-innings total that would allow them to bat only once in the match. England finished on 225/2 in 46 overs at Stumps on the second day. Ponting believed the deteriorating Old Trafford surface would make it difficult to bat as the game went.
“If they don’t take early wickets today (Day 3), this game will slip away very rapidly. And on the wicket, with the sun shining today, we saw Jadeja turn a couple late yesterday (Day 2) afternoon. It won’t be easy to bat late in this game. So, I’m sure England went to bed last night thinking about only batting once in this Test match. “They’ll want to bat long today, get through the day, and have a big first innings total,” Ponting remarked on Sky Sports.
India need to find a way to get back in the game: Ricky Ponting
The former Australian skipper also felt it would be ideal for the visitors if they managed to secure early wickets on the third day to restrict England from running away with the contest.
“Just thinking about these batting conditions today, I mean, England definitely got the better of it yesterday,
and we can see from the morning session to the afternoon just how much the wicket and conditions change. So, batting conditions probably won’t get any better than they are right now. We’ve got two class players at the crease. India need to find a way early today to get themselves back into this game,” added Ponting.
England scored at a decent click in the first 46 overs of their innings. Ben Duckett (94 off 100) and Zak Crawley (84 off 113) paired up to forge a 166-run stand for the opening wicket. They trailed by only 133 runs with eight wickets in the bank ahead of the third day.
India
