ENG vs IND 2025: Ricky Ponting feels England would want to bat only once on tricky Manchester surface

There were a few balls which kept low due to variable bounce on Day 2 of the ongoing Test.

By Rathnam Nayak

Updated - 25 Jul 2025, 17:26 IST

2 Min Read

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting reckoned that England should look to bat through Day 3 of the fourth Test against India and accumulate a first-innings total which would enable them to bat only once in the fixture. England ended up on 225/2 in 46 overs at Stumps on the second day. Ponting felt the Old Trafford surface, which had already shown signs of deterioration, would prove tough to bat on as the game progressed.

"If they don't take early wickets today (Day 3), this game is slipping away really, really quickly. And on a wicket, with this sunshine on it today, we saw Jadeja turn a couple late yesterday (Day 2) afternoon. It's not going to get easy to bat on late in this game. So England, I'm sure, would have gone to bed last night thinking about the possibility of only batting once in this Test match. They'll want to bat long today, get through the day, get a huge first innings total," Ponting said on Sky Sports.

India need to find a way to get back in the game: Ponting

The former Australian skipper also felt it would be ideal for the visitors if they managed to secure early wickets on the third day to restrict England from running away with the contest.

"Just thinking about these batting conditions today, I mean, England definitely got the better of it yesterday,
and we can see from the morning session to the afternoon just how much the wicket and conditions change. So, batting conditions probably won't get any better than they are right now. We've got two class players at the crease. India need to find a way early today to get themselves back into this game," added Ponting.

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England scored at a decent click in the first 46 overs of their innings. Ben Duckett (94 off 100) and Zak Crawley (84 off 113) paired up to forge a 166-run stand for the opening wicket. They trailed by only 133 runs with eight wickets in the bank ahead of the third day.

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