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Ex-England skipper Kevin Pietersen was left unimpressed by stand-in India captain Jasprit Bumrah's captaincy on Day 4 of the fifth and the final Test match of the series between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Monday.
After India set a stiff target of 378 to level the series for England, the hosts took control of the proceedings in the middle, coasting along nicely to 259 for 3 at the close of play on Monday. England's pursuit of their record run-chase was powered by three quickfire fifties from Alex Lees, Joe Root, and Jonny Bairstow.
Right from the word go the home team took matters into their own hands, as their openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley were involved in a quickfire stand of 107 runs for the first wicket.
Though Jasprit Bumrah and company hit back with three quick wickets, England talisman Joe Root and the swashbuckling Jonny Bairstow put them on top with their unbeaten partnership of 150-runs for the fourth wicket.
Surprisingly, the pitch didn't behave dramatically on the fourth day which was rather unusual, considering the ball kept low and at times jumped extremely high from the good length area. This was perhaps the main reason behind Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow's complete dominance of the Indian bowlers.
Jasprit Bumrah, who's leading Team India for the first time in Test cricket in the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma, however, failed to stop the run flow from the bat of the English batters who scored at a brisk pace of 4.54 runs per over.
“I don't think Bumrah got his tactics right today at all, and I say that with the greatest deal of respect,” Kevin Pietersen told Sky Sports.
Kevin Pietersen was also critical of India's field placements in the third session of play when the ball was reverse swinging a fair deal and the visitors failed to take advantage of that.
“There is no way with a reverse swinging ball that he should make it that easy for the batter, because the batter is trying so hard to decipher which way that ball is swinging. When it's reverse swinging at 90mph, the nicest place to bat is at the non-strikers end, and the ability to get to the non-strikers end as easily as they did this afternoon, it's too easy,” he added.
For the large part of the day, the Indians had fielders manning the boundary in the deep, which mean that they could not put enough men in closing positions.
According to Kevin Pietersen, this was the main reason behind India's struggles on a day they were expected to take full control of the match. Instead, England are now in a commanding position to complete an improbable victory at Edgbaston.
“They had long off and long on, and that was pure madness. For half an hour that was pure madness. Even for the last 15-20 minutes of the day's play, pull them right in, say ‘Jonny, if you're good enough to hit me over the head, please do it,'” Kevin Pietersen pointed out.
“I hope they don't do it tomorrow morning, but for England's sake, absolutely, let them spread them as far as they want,” Pietersen summed up.
While Joe Root is currently batting at 76*, Jonny Bairstow is at 72, and the pair would fancy their chances of leading England to yet another massive triumph which would be their fourth in succession at home on Tuesday.
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Coming back to Jonny Bairstow, the England wicketkeeper batter has been the center of attraction for the past two days.
First, it was his war of words with Virat Kohli which hogged the limelight before his third consecutive century in back-to-back Tests became the cynosure of the cricket-loving press in England.
Jonny Bairstow was back doing what he does best on Day 4 as he continued to hurt India with his aggressive brand of cricket.
It appeared like Virat Kohli’s words have motivated him to continue England’s recent winning streak in England.
Before India arrived in the United Kingdom, England had clean-swept New Zealand 3-0 in a Test series.
Jonny Bairstow, meanwhile, gave credit for his success to the “clarity” in his thought process.
“I've never been a great technician, have I?” he said in a media interaction. “That's why you lot have torn me to shreds a few times: going leg side of it, going off side of it, bowled through the gate. Nah, genuinely, I've not really thought of technique and stuff like that to be honest with you. I've just stripped everything back and trying to focus on watching the ball. There's my honest answer.”
On the other hand, former England captain Nasser Hussain reckoned that Jonny Bairstow was the form of his life.
“Jonny Bairstow is in the form of his life. He epitomises what McCullum and Stokes want, positive, but not reckless batting. There has been no reckless batting from Bairstow this summer, he has been brilliant,” Nasser Hussain stated.
