Australian cricket great Shane Warne on Monday criticised England's tactics against India in the Test series opener at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, opining that Joe Root and the management aren't showing any urgency against Virat Kohli's men. Warne questioned the logic behind not declaring soon enough neither going for quick runs in the second innings after England took a first-innings lead of 241.
"Very surprised England haven’t declared yet & why aren’t they trying to get 400 asap? England batted to long in the 1st innings too & now letting the game drift & showing no urgency at all. Surely they are better of bowling now than wasting overs not scoring any runs," tweeted Warne.
"England’s mindset is let’s not lose this test match - rather than, what’s the best way to win this test match and how many overs could we need ! This batting on the decision is now putting a lot of pressure on England’s bowlers and particularly their spinners !" he further added.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan defended England's decision saying, "If they Win they will have played it well ... if they draw it will affect them for the rest of the Series ... I still think they will win on this pitch."
But Warne replied saying, "So you think @root66 is doing the right thing and not declaring ? Need more runs ? Surely should be bowling now...."
England batted for 190.1 overs in the first innings which is the most a team has batted against India in 1st innings since 2004 to score 578 runs, batting across seven sessions. They then folded India for 337, did not enforce a follow-on and set a target of 420 for India to win.
