Former captain Michael Vaughan has slammed England for panicking and trying to be ‘more high-risk’ in the final two sessions of the Oval Test against England. He said the batters played shots that were ‘too risky’ with no one taking the responsibility to steady things up, before adding that if India had lost like that, they’d be criticised for ‘yippying up’ while South Africa would have again been labeled ‘chokers’.
England were 301/3 at one point in Day 4, with 73 runs needed and six wickets in hand. Harry Brook’s step-down-and-loft against Akash Deep got a top edge that was caught, while young Jacob Bethell got bowled swinging. Momentum shifted, and India started the fifth day with 35 to defend and four wickets to take. Still, against the old swinging ball, the hosts kept playing away from the body, only to lose by six runs.
Vaughan, writing in his column for The Telegraph, started with empathy, saying that England were also unlucky not to have Ben Stokes and see Chris Woakes get injured on the first day.
“But the truth is England panicked,” he added. “The closer they got, within 70, they tried to be more high-risk. The approach was wrong on the final morning. It was too risky. If it takes 15 overs, so be it. You do not need to whizz 35 runs in five overs. All it needed was one steady head. Three of the last seven wickets were players dancing down the wicket to seamers… If India lost in that fashion, we would have said they yipped up. If South Africa lost like that, we would say they choked. It was that bad a miss. The defeat will really hurt England. When you know you should win a game, it is so painful.”
Vaughan pointed to how BazBall has been England’s boon and bane at the same time.
“As a result, England have failed again to win a five-match series. They are great to watch and garner so much attention because of their style of play, but that has also been their problem so far. They still have not beaten India or Australia under the management of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum,” he added.
