“I honestly don’t know why Gill has done that” - Ricky Ponting slams Shubman Gill for poor captaincy tactics on Day 3

Former Australian captain and commentator Ricky Ponting has slammed the newly appointed Indian Test captain, Shubman Gill, for his poor captaincy skills on the third day of the ongoing Manchester Test against England.

Interestingly, Gill went ahead with Shardul Thakur ahead of bringing in Washington Sundar to bowl. Notably, Sundar scalped a four-wicket haul in the Lord’s Test, turning the game upside down. However, he was brought into the attack around the 70th over, raising a lot of eyebrows.

"I honestly don't know why he (Gill) has done that. He went to Shardul straight up this morning when he could have gone straight to Washington Sundar for one or two then. He had immediate success with just drift,” Ponting told Sky Sports Cricket.

After coming into the attack, Sundar scalped the wickets of Ollie Pope on 71 runs and Harry Brook for three runs. He ended the third day with the figures of 2/57 in 19 overs, conceding runs at an economy of three.

"He also didn't leak runs like their other bowlers. So knowing you've got someone that is consistent when you are worried about the game slipping away from you, he could have been someone, even if he didn't take wickets, could have tied up that one end and then rotate the quicks through the other,” Ponting added.

Furthermore, Ponting stated that England had an exceptional third day of the game. However, he didn’t rule out India’s comeback on Day 4, adding that fans are in for an exceptional finish in this penultimate Test of the series.

"I thought England were red-hot favorites entering Day 3 if the first session went their way, and the whole day has gone just about perfectly for them," said Ponting.

"Yet, these Indian batters, when the wickets do get at their most difficult, because they play in those wearing and diminishing surfaces with variable bounce in India, I wouldn't rule them out just yet of being very hard to dismiss in the second innings. The one worry for them would be the lack of bounce we have seen on a number of occasions,” he concluded.

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