"Rohit Sharma captained the side really well" - Former England opener praises Indian captain for fightback on Day 3
Former England opener Nick Knight was highly impressed with the way skipper Rohit Sharma led the Indian team on Day 3 of the ongoing Test against England in Rajkot.
The visitors were right on top at the start of play on Day 3 with 207/2 on the board. However, they lost their last eight wickets for just 95 runs and were bundled out for 319, thanks to some proactive field placements and bowling changes from Rohit.
Heaping praise on the Indian bowling attack as well as skipper Rohit Sharma during the mid-innings break, here's what Nick Knight had to say on air:
"We talked about how Bazball works. We're now going to talk about how it doesn't work on the odd occasion. I don't think it was really Bazball. Actually, I think you've got to give a lot of credit to the way India bowled, they had a terrific day. I thought Rohit Sharma captained the side really well. We talked about heart, we saw plenty of that from Siraj."
The hosts did not have the services of Ravichandran Ashwin on Day 3 as he pulled out of the third Test due to a family medical emergency. Mohammed Siraj stepped up and was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/84.
Nick Knight on where momentum swung in India's favour
Nick Knight believes the moment Joe Root was dismissed, the opposition had a spring in their stride and began to take control of the game. Root was caught in the slip cordon trying to play a reverse sweep, which Knight felt could have been avoided at that juncture of the game.
On this, he stated:
"Where did England go wrong? It kind of started from the from the Root dismissal. I thought England never quite recovered. I thought India got on top of England a little bit, and it became a little tentative. And I thought that dismissal there was all about being a little tentative."
Given England's track record of chasing big totals in the Bazball era, Nick Knight claimed that the visitors were still in the game. However, he also believes the hosts are in the driver's seat to go 2-1 up in the series after getting a massive 126-run lead in the first innings.