Ricky Ponting: Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting criticized Indian skipper Shubman Gill’s decision to give the new ball to debutant Anshul Kamboj on Day 2 of the Manchester Test against England. Ponting opined that the visitors got their tactics completely wrong, while their bowlers also failed in the execution part.
Ricky Ponting: England dominated India on Day 2 of the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester on Thursday, July 24. Resuming their first innings on 264-4, India were bowled out for 358. The hosts then went to stumps as 225-2 after 46 overs as openers Ben Duckett (94) and Zak Crawley (84) added 166 runs in 32 overs.
Ricky Ponting: During a discussion on Sky Sports Cricket following the conclusion of the second day’s play in Manchester, Ponting was unimpressed with Gill’s captaincy as well as India’s overall bowling performance. He commented:
Ricky Ponting: “I think they were tactically off as well. Kamboj shouldn’t have taken the new ball. I didn’t like that from the start. Five of Duckett’s first six boundaries were behind square leg, so tactically they were wrong. I think Bumrah is bowling from the wrong end. Most of the wickets have fallen from the Statham end and he’s done most of his work bowling from the Anderson end.”
#AnshulKamboj, welcome to Test cricket!
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 24, 2025
Opens his wicket tally in style by removing a well-set Ben Duckett. 💥#ENGvIND 👉 4th TEST, DAY 2 | LIVE NOW on JioHotstar 👉 https://t.co/Y3btplYguV pic.twitter.com/aXAsyVjKjw
Ricky Ponting: England’s huge opening partnership ended when Crawley was caught at slip off Ravindra Jadeja. Kamboj then had something to cheer about as Duckett nicked one behind the wicket to give the youngster his maiden Test scalp.
Ricky Ponting: “Unacceptable at Test match level” – Stuart Broad on India’s Day 2 bowling effort in Manchester
Like Ponting, former England pacer Stuart Broad also raised questions over India’s bowling performance on Day 2 of the Manchester Test. According to Broad, India’s bowling effort on Thursday was unacceptable at the Test level. He said:
“Really poor. When your batters get you a score that is slightly above par in the conditions they had to bat in, you’ve got a responsibility as a bowling group to put the opposition team under pressure. The amount of balls down the leg side, Duckett could just clip it. It was unacceptable at Test match level. You see that at lower levels. I don’t think he [Duckett] he had to work particularly hard for his runs.”
B R E A K T H R O U G H! 💪
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 24, 2025
A long partnership comes to a halt courtesy @imjadeja & a clean collect by @klrahul in the slips!#ENGvIND 👉 4th TEST, DAY 2 | LIVE NOW on JioHotstar 👉 https://t.co/Y3btplYguV pic.twitter.com/hiN97g6HLO
While Jadeja and Kamboj were the only wicket-takers for India on Day 2 in Manchester, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj went wicketless in 13 and 10 overs respectively. Siraj conceded 58 runs in 10 overs, while Shardul Thakur was also expensive, conceding 35 runs in five overs.
