"Don't think it's a capitulation from England, just succumbing to the pressure" - Graeme Swann rues visitors' collapse on opening day of 5th Test
Former England spinner Graeme Swann feels the visitors succumbed to the pressure applied by the Indian spinners, resulting in their batting collapse on Day 1 of the fifth Test at Dharamsala.
After racing to 100/1 just before Lunch, the visitors endured another terminal middle-order collapse to find themselves 175/8 at the stroke of Tea. They were eventually bundled out for a paltry 218 to fall behind the eight-ball.
When asked about England's dismal Day 1 performance, Swann told the PTI:
"Well you got to look at like I say you have got world-class spinners at the absolute top of their game. So I don't think it's a capitulation from England, just succumbing to the pressure maybe, so there's two ways of looking at it."
"England certainly knows they can do better but for India, you should be championing the fact that you have got an absolute world-beater at the moment, and he is bowling like a dream," he added.
England has suffered similar collapses in almost all the games since their opening Test win, evidenced by only two 300-plus team scores in the last seven innings.
With the defeat in the fourth Test, they also suffered their first series loss since Ben Stokes took over as permanent captain in mid-2022.
"He was just too good for them" - Graeme Swann on Kuldeep Yadav
Graeme Swann praised left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav for his incredible bowling on the opening day in Dharamsala.
The 29-year-old picked up his fourth five-wicket haul in only his 12th Test outing to dismantle England from a strong position. His scalps included top-order batters Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes, and Jonny Bairstow.
"Disappointing day at the end of it, it started so well, with the ball sort of swinging and seaming around so lavishly. To not lose any wickets in that early spell was brilliant from England's point of view. But then they came up against Kuldeep who was in rich form at the moment and he was just too good for them," Swann said.
"At the end of the day, so very disappointing after winning the toss on a good pitch but then finding yourself in such a weak position at the end of day one, it's been a bad day for England," he concluded.
Despite missing out on the opening Test, Kuldeep has picked up 17 wickets in the series at an impressive average of 20.17.
Meanwhile, India compounded England's woes with a dominant batting performance by racing to 135/1 at close on Day 1.