"Where Are The Daddy Hundreds?" R Ashwin Turns Table, Takes Blunt Swipe At...
"Once 370 was chased down (in the first Test), I thought the commentary became a diss about the Indian bowlers. I felt that the narrative built was pointing towards how Indian bowlers failed to win the match. But with a little homework, many would have realised that in England, scores have been consistently chased down in 4th innings," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
In fact, Ashwin went on to suggest that the batters should take more responsibility, urging them to convert 100s into more meaningful scores. For the unversed, India had four centurions in the first including, while Rishabh Pant hit one in both innings.
"Batters should take up responsibility. I know batsmen are making runs. Yes, we had five centurions, but where are the daddy hundreds? We have to resign to the fact that there would be no contribution (with the bat) from the lower order. Our fast bowlers cannot bat, they cannot muster runs," he added.
Ashwin, however, did question the bowlers, barring pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, for allowing England to score freely. He added that the others bowlers need to stick to tight lines as Bumrah will do the rest by creating pressure from the other end.
"In Tests, I think maidens are quite underrated. Ideally, I would be okay with Bumrah going for a higher economy rate, but others should go low. I saw a show where someone said Siraj was unlucky to not be among wickets. I do agree he bowled well in the second innings, but the economy rate, you can't let go and hope that things fall in place. In Tests, you have to build your bowling gradually from Day 1, and the rewards will come in the final innings," Ashwin highlighted.
"If you give away a lot of runs in the first innings, you tend to get conservative ato stem the flow, and you won't get wickets in this approach. If I was Morkel, I would tell the other bowlers not to do much since Bumrah is there. As the old saying goes, bowl three maidens, and you will get a wicket. Don't you think a wicket would fall after three maidens in a row against this England side? Against this side, if you are giving two runs an over, it is as good as bowling a maiden," he added.
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