India Were Awful, Says Geoffrey Boycott After Manchester Disaster
Geoffrey Boycott slammed India over their innings and 54-run defeat to England in the fourth Test in Manchester.
After India's shambolic capitulation in the Manchester Test, where they lost by an innings and 54 runs to England, former England cricketer and an outspoken commentator Geoffrey Boycott slammed the visitors for their poor performance and praised the hosts as Alastair Cook's men took an insurmountable 2-1 lead in the five-match Test series. (Vaughan Slams India After Manchester Rout)
"We couldn't have gone on like we were. We'd have gone crazy watching that. The toss was important and Dhoni made a terrible mistake by batting and losing all those wickets. All in all it was England wearing them down and them not being able to cope with the pressure," Boycott told BBC's Test Match Special. (Kohli, Pujara Lose Touch With Technique as India Suffer in England)
India suffered a severe batting implosion after Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat on an overcast morning at Old Trafford. Soon, the visitors were down to 8 for 4 with the cream of the top order back in the hut. Dhoni's gutsy 71 helped the visitors post 152 runs on the board. After England's 215-run first-innings lead, India failed with the bat again, this time getting bowled out for 161, conceding the match inside three days, despite an entire session lost to rain. On what turned out to be the last day, India lost nine wickets inside a single session. (India Flummoxed by Moeen Ali: Lack of Intent or Dearth of Skills)
Boycott also took to Twitter to describe the efforts, and the lack of it, from both teams.
Terrific performance by England. India were awful, as bad as I've ever seen. Embarrassing rubbish- no fight.
- Geoffrey Boycott (@GeoffreyBoycott) August 9, 2014
He did not mince his words after Dhoni's decision to bat and the following batting collapse on Day 1 of the Test either.
Dhoni winning the toss and batting first was brainless - the test match is already lost.
- Geoffrey Boycott (@GeoffreyBoycott) August 7, 2014Following their loss at Lord's, Cook & Co. have scripted a fabulous turnaround and will be hoping to seal the series 3-1 when they take on a visibly out-of-sorts India in the fifth and final Test at the Oval, starting on August 15.