Problem for England is to pick up 20 wickets: Sourav Ganguly

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly is very clear with his opinions. He makes his words look so precise that the audiences are often convinced to relate to his points. England looked in a commanding position at the end of day 1 of the Chennai Test. They ended up with 284/4 on the board with Moeen Ali batting on an unbeaten 120.

Sourav Ganguly praised the effort of the English side but cited the actual problem for them. He rightly reflected that the visitors have been successful in posting high totals in this series. It has been the bowling that has let them down. With the bowlers failing to pick 20 wickets, he believes even 500 on board is worthless.

“They’ve (England) put up scores, last Test in Mumbai they put up 400. Now how many teams in world cricket would lose a Test match after scoring 400 specially on a pitch which has spun so much. So England will put up a good score in this first innings, they could get to 500 because there’s a lot of batting still to come but their problem is who is going to get the Indians out?,” Ganguly quoted in a conversation with India Today.

During the match, KL Rahul dropped Moeen Ali on zero and Ali went on to score big. Ganguly believes that these half chances must be taken with both hands. He also remarked that the coach Anil Kumble needs to find specialist fielders to ensure that such catches do not go begging.

“So catching is key, once again I keep saying this and I’ll tell that to Anil (Kumble) when I meet him in Kolkata for the one-dayers that he’s got to find a specialist. If anybody dropped catches when he (Kumble) was bowling he would have been fuming. I don’t know what he’s doing in the dressing room, but he’s got to find specialist fielders who will stand day in day out in those key positions because that’s the only way they can become good fielders,” Sourav Ganguly mentioned.

England’s most consistent batsman on the tour has been Joe Root. The former Indian captain was in full praise for the young middle-order batsman. He called him a class player. However, he reiterated that it is the bowlers who have let England down.

“Root is a good player there’s no doubt about it. I think only Virender Sehwag has got as many fifties in a calendar year as Root. He’s class and I don’t think because of him getting out before a hundred has cost England the series because they have posted 300, 400 runs regularly. It’s about the bowler’s who’ve not picked wickets. Howsoever runs you put in it hasn’t been enough for England. It’s been a good batting performance from England but they know deep down inside that their spin department has let them down,” Ganguly conceded.