Former cricketers highlight India captain Rohit Sharma's tactical error in third Test against England

Rohit Sharma led the charge in India's first innings batting in the third Test with a brilliant hundred. Backed by his 131, Ravindra Jadeja's 112, and some effective cameos from others, India posted a massive score of 445 on the board. Despite Ravichandran Ashwin's absence on Day 3, the hosts managed to gain the upper hand as they bowled out England for 319 and took a lead of 126 runs.

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Meanwhile, captain Rohit came under fire for a tactical blunder during England's first innings batting on Day 2. England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley got off to a fiery start on Friday. Left-hander Duckett took the 'Bazball lessons' by heart as he hit a rapid half-century in just 39 balls. He went on to smash his third century on the same day and gave a big headache for India.

Criticism was raised against Rohit that he could have brought Ashwin early into the attack, given he has a good record against Duckett. Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav was instead introduced to counter the aggressive Duckett, a move that did not yield the desired results. Ashwin has dismissed the English opener 5 times in 5 matches at an average of just 16.20.

Former England fast bowler Steven Finn pointed out Rohit's tactical error of not bringing in India's main spinner. “I think Rohit Sharma made a mistake by not giving the ball early to Ashwin. He will be working with the analyst when to bowl his bowlers and against whom,” he said on Sky Sports. 

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“He should have got both Ashwin and Jadeja a bit early. India will come back refreshed on Day 3,” Finn added.

I couldn't understand Kuldeep Yadav coming in at that stage: Sanjay Manjrekar 

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was also not impressed with India's introduction of Ashwin and Jadeja as the fourth and fifth options. When Ashwin was introduced into the attack, England had already raced to 72/0 in just 12 overs. "I didn't understand that move," Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.

"I thought it was an error. A tactical error. Ashwin bowled the first ball when the score was 72 and that's a lot. Among the Indian spinners, Axar Patel included, I think Ashiwn is the only one who started to find a way to counter this new English approach of playing spin. He would have been my first-choice spinner. I couldn't understand Kuldeep Yadav coming in at that stage. There was a fair bit of pace bowling too when you could see that the fast bowlers weren't really creating any impression at all."

Interestingly, Ashwin himself commented after the day's play that he would have liked to bowl when Duckett was batting on 0 and not 60-70 runs. The 500 Test wicket holder also praised his rival batter, saying he is a "phenomenal talent for England".