IND Vs ENG, 4th Test: Ponting Rips Into Gill’s Tactics, Questions Bumrah As England Dominate Day 2

Ricky Ponting was scathing in his assessment of India’s bowling display on the second day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford, pointing to a complete breakdown in execution with the new ball.

The former Australian skipper felt India missed a crucial opportunity to apply early pressure, failing to make the most of the fresh Dukes despite conditions that, while not overly helpful, still demanded discipline and accuracy.

Instead, India’s seamers were all over the place, struggling to maintain tight lines and gifting England’s openers easy scoring opportunities. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley took full advantage, racing away and putting India on the back foot from the get-go.

With runs flowing freely and no real control from the visitors, stand-in captain Shubman Gill was left scrambling for answers in a session that quickly slipped away.

Ponting slammed India’s decision to hand the new ball to debutant Anshul Kamboj over Mohammed Siraj, calling it a costly error. While Bumrah kept things tight, Kamboj was taken apart, giving England early momentum.

"They got scored off on both sides of the wicket, didn't they? You know, we broadly talked then about how they bowled to Pope. I think they were tactically off as well," Ponting said during his analysis on Sky Sports.

"I don't think Kamboj shouldn't have taken the new ball. Yeah, I didn't like that from the start. And he was, I mean, and Duckett's five of his first six boundaries were behind square leg side. So they got it tactically wrong there," he added.

Ponting didn’t hold back on Bumrah either, questioning the decision to have India’s pace spearhead operate from the Anderson End while most of the wickets had fallen from the Statham End. It was, in Ponting’s view, another example of India getting their tactics wrong on a frustrating day.

"I think even watching now, Bumrah, I think, is bowling from the wrong end. All the wickets, most of the wickets, have fallen from the Statham end. And he's done most of his work bowling from the Anderson end. So they've been, they were off execution wise. And I think tactically have been off a little bit as well," he concluded.

After India posted 358, Duckett (94) and Crawley (84) put on a dominant 166-run stand. Jadeja broke through by drawing Crawley into a loose drive, caught by KL Rahul. Debutant Kamboj then claimed his maiden Test wicket, dismissing Duckett on 94 with an edge to Dhruv Jurel. England ended the day at 225/2, trailing by 133 runs.