"I Would Make Wholesale Changes For The Third Test" Reckons Kevin Pietersen On England's Batting Woes

Former England batsmen Kevin Pietersen was disappointed with the top three batsmen that played in the Lord’s Test for England and he revealed the changes he would make to the team. England controlled most part of the second Test at Lord’s but a poor final day cost them the whole Test and it certainly exposed a lot of batting weakness too.

England was all out for 120 in their final innings in a chase of 271 with just 60 overs left in the day and they could have easily drawn the Test. Their bowling lacked plans and depth too with a lot of them injured and it did not have the spice needed against this Indian team. Burns and Sibley couldn’t contribute again while Joe Root has looked like the most formidable batsmen from the side so far.

Pietersen Reacts To England’s Batting Collapse On Final Day

India came out all guns blazing on the final day at Lord’s and England had no answers to India’s efforts. Pietersen regarded England’s batting performance on the final day to be ‘atrocious’ and added that he could even do some damage to the batting order of England at 41 years of age with his off-spin.

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,”

“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,” Kevin Pietersen wrote in his column.

Kevin Pietersen Reveals His Choices For The Headingly Test

Kevin Pietersen included England’s limited-overs stars Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone into the Test setup for Headingly and also picked Harry Brook who has been doing well in the Hundred tournament. He added that Brook might be better than the combined game of England’s top three and wanted Livingstone to be used in the middle order to create a panic in the opponent’s dressing room with his destructive batting abilities.

“Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook all need to play in that match at Headingley.”

“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,” Kevin Pietersen added

England lost the Lord’s Test to India by a margin of 151 runs and they will look to make a comeback in the series.

Also Read – Team India Players Didn’t Make Way For Ollie Robinson When He Was Coming Out To Bat At Lord’s– Report