On the third day of the Lord’s Test, Indian veteran batsman and former captain Sunil Gavaskar has reacted strongly to England’s short-picked bowling strategy. He said that the English team has reiterated the infamous ‘bodyline’ strategy of the 1930s against the injured Rishabh Pant, which is against the spirit of the game.
During the third Test between India and England on Saturday, England used aggressive field setup and frequent bouncers against Pant. Pant, who was hurt in his hand on Friday, was repeatedly upset with the short balls of English bowlers. Captain Ben Stokes put six fielders against him in the leg side, making it clear that England is adopting a completely physically aggressive strategy.
Sunil Gavaskar criticized this strategy during the commentary and said that it is not cricket. 56% of the balls made today were short and four players were stationed for catch on the boundary. Pant was getting hurt again and again and Physio had to come on the field.
Gavaskar appealed to Sourav Ganguly, head of the ICC’s Men’s Cricket Committee to focus on this strategy and improve the rules. He said that keeping more than six fielders on the leg side is against sportsmanship. Hopefully, Ganguly will take it seriously and it should not be repeated next time.
It is worth noting that in the 1932-33 Ashes series, England adopted the same ‘bodyline’ strategy to stop Don Bradman of Australia, in which bowlers used to bowl by targeting the batsman’s body. Later this strategy was strongly criticized and "unfair play" It was declared. After this, by changing the rules, the maximum two fielders were limited behind the square on the leg side.
As far as the match is concerned, India scored 387 runs in the first innings with the help of KL Rahul (100) and Ravindra Jadeja (half -century). Rahul and Pant added 141 runs for the fourth wicket, but after lunch, India’s batting stumbled.
