"Why be so defensive": Kevin Pietersen slams Rohit Sharma's captaincy on day 4 of Vizag Test

Kevin Pietersen has slammed Rohit Sharma for his defensive captaincy on day four of the ongoing second Test between India and England in Vishakhapatnam.

Set a target of 399 runs, England were on 67/1 at the start of the day’s play. Zak Crawley and Rehan Ahmed started the proceedings with the bat for the tourists. With India failing to dismiss Ahmed early and the England tail-ender managing to hit a handful of boundaries, Kevin Pietersen made it clear that he was not at all impressed by Rohit Sharma’s approach as the captain.

The former cricketer-turned-commentator was baffled to see Rohit Sharma not setting an attacking field for Ahmed. Kevin Pietersen stated that India were defensive even though England needed way over 300 runs to win the ongoing game as he criticized the field placement.

“Yeah, but just have a look at the captaincy from Rohit Sharma. Why is long on back? Why is mid-off back? Why be so defensive straight away when England still need way over 300 runs to win this Test match?” the former England skipper said on air.

“Should keep Rehan Ahmed on strike. Yes, he has hit two fours but he should have been out first ball of the day. First boundary he hit this morning wasn’t convincing at all,” he added.

Kevin Pietersen praises Ben Stokes:

After criticizing Rohit Sharma, Kevin Pietersen heaped praise on his England counterpart Ben Stokes for his captaincy on day three of the Test. India were on 28 for no loss at the start of the day’s play before England managed to bowl them out for 255. Pietersen highlighted that Stokes did not let the batters manipulate the field and dictated terms with his captaincy.

“Ben Stokes yesterday was brilliant at the start. He made a mistake when he allowed the manipulation of the field by batters picking up singles. He decided ‘no way, I am gonna let the batter go’ and what happened? He broke the partnership and he got wickets. He made things happen,” said Pietersen.

Kevin peterson slamming rohit sharma for his poor captaincy.#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/ZJTGSOjzr8

— Sack Rohit and Save Indian Cricket (@goldybrarcanada) February 5, 2024

Coming to the game, England were on 193 for 4 at the time of writing this report. Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow are fighting it out in the middle for the tourists. Earlier in the day, Axar Patel gave India the first breakthrough by dismissing Ahmed. Ollie Pope (23 off 21) and Joe Root (16 off 10) made promising starts but could not last long. Both of them were dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin.