Kevin Pietersen
Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has called on the home team management to make wholesale changes to the playing XI asking them to include aggressive limited-overs cricket batsmen for the third Test against India that begins in Leeds on August 25.
England batting collapsed on the fifth and final day's last two sessions and lost the Test they had a grip on by 151 runs.
"I would make wholesale changes for the third Test. They cannot be worse than the line-up that batted like that on day five at Lord's, which was absolutely atrocious," wrote Pietersen in his blog on Wednesday.
"I could bowl to that top three at the moment and come under very little pressure, and I'm 41 years of age. None of India's bowlers are actually worried about any damage that they might do," Pietersen mocked at the English top-order batting.
Pietersen wants the English team management to play Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook, who all are limited-overs specialists.
"Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook all need to play in that match at Headingley."
England, however, have already announced the team for the third Test and have included only Malan out of the three. "Brook has impressed me massively in The Hundred. My goodness, he can properly play. He's got a better game than Burns, Sibley and Crawley combined.
"Livingstone should come in at five or six, too. He can put the pressure back on bowlers. If he can face the bowlers that he's faced in franchise cricket around the world and go well, then there's no reason why he can't slightly alter his mindset and adapt to Test cricket," he wrote further.
