"They should have given a little fight" - Owais Shah on England's collapse on Day 4 of 3rd IND vs ENG Test
Owais Shah has expressed disappointment over England's inability to put up a fight in their second innings of the third Test against India.
India set England a massive 557-run target on Day 4 in Rajkot on Sunday, February 18. Ben Stokes and company were handed a 434-run thrashing as they were bundled out for a paltry 122 in just 39.4 overs.
During a discussion at Colors Cineplex, Owais Shah was asked about his thoughts on England's collapse and if some doubts might have crept into their minds about whether Bazball can work in these conditions and against this attack. He responded:
"I was slightly disappointed as they were bowled out in one-and-a-half sessions. I wasn't expecting them to lose by a margin of 434 runs. I was expecting them to lose two or three wickets by today evening because of the way England bat. They should have given a little fight and taken the match till tomorrow."
Despite the defeat, Owais Shah doesn't expect the visitors to change their aggressive approach.
"I feel the way captain (Ben) Stokes and (Brendon) McCullum think, they will still think that they had a bad day today and that they will come back again with the thinking they had when they batted in the first innings," Owais Shah stated.
England seemed to be in a dominant position in the first innings as they were comfortably placed at 224/2 in response to India's 445-run total. However, they lost their last eight wickets for just 95 runs to concede a 126-run lead and could never recover after that.
"If they had batted with the same thinking in the second innings, they might have given some fight to India" - Owais Shah
![Mark Wood was England's top run-scorer in their second innings. [P/C: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/02/8f60a-17082657305731-1920.jpg?w=500)
Owais Shah reckons England might have put up a better fight had they batted aggressively in the second innings. He said:
"If they had batted with the same thinking in the second innings, they might have given some fight to India but they couldn't do that. They played a lot of maidens in the second innings although when you ask the England batters to play a Test match, they play as though it's a T20 match."
The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that England should stick to the Bazball approach for the remainder of the series.
"So they will have to think again about why this happened and why they got such a thinking. They will have to make sure to get rid of that thinking and play with the thinking they had come with, that they will only play Bazball," Owais Shah stated.
England allowed India to bowl 12 maiden overs in their second innings. Barring Jonny Bairstow, who faced only three deliveries, and Mark Wood (33 off 15), none of the England players had a strike rate of even 50 in their second innings.