India vs England 2021: England Kept Repeating The Same Mistake Against Axar Patel - Nasser Hussain

Former England captain, Nasser Hussain slams the English batsmen who surrendered to the spin of Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The visitors were bowled out for 112 and 81 at Motera as India clinched a 10-wicket win to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the series.

Nasser Hussain lavished praise on Axar Patel, who is two Tests have taken three five-wicket hauls and now has the best bowling figures – 11 for 70 – in day-night contests. At the same time, Hussain lamented the failure of England batters to not pick the straighter deliveries from Patel and succumb to his accuracy.

“You try to protect yourself from the danger delivery, and it felt as if England kept repeating the same mistake against (Axar) Patel. Take nothing away from India’s spinners, though. Patel’s accuracy is mind-boggling, and part of England’s problem was that he gave them nothing to hit, which meant natural variation came into play,” Nasser Hussain wrote in his column for The Daily Mail.

This game told us a lot about where England are as a Test side in these conditions: Nasser Hussain

The 52-year-old cricketer-turned-commentator also wrote about the pitch which is under heavy scrutiny – Hussain pointed that India too got dismissed for a low score and that Joe Root with his part-time off-spin bagged a 5-for indicating it was a very difficult pitch to bat on.

However, Nasser Hussain believes that is the tradition in India, and in Asia, where the pitches are spin-friendly, and that no visiting side should expect anything else. He also, once again, expresses his disappointment with the state of English batting in Asian conditions; barring Joe Root, no other England player have reached the three-figure mark a ton on their tour to Sri Lanka and India – indeed England have failed to go past 200 in their last 5 innings!

“For batsmen on both sides and don’t forget India were bowled out for 145 it was an exhausting business. It was fun to watch, but probably less fun to play. And let’s face it: if Joe Root is taking five for eight, you can hardly say the pitch is a belter.

“Having said all that, England should expect little else when they come to India. And they ought to have done better after winning the toss. Above all, this game told us a lot about where England are as a Test side in these conditions,” the former skipper added.

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