Former England captain Michael Atherton questioned skipper Ben Stokes’ technique against India pacer Jasprit Bumrah after he got hold of the batter two times in the series so far.
On both occasions, Bumrah bowled out Stokes as the batter failed to pick the angle of the ball.
India have levelled the ongoing five-match Test series against England 1-1 after winning the second encounter by 106 runs in Visakhapatnam on Monday. Bumrah was the standout bowler in the game as he picked nine wickets and also bagged the Player of the Match award.
Atherton feels that Stokes is facing difficulty in picking Bumrah’s pace and that is making the difference.
“Picking with the speed of the ball is tough with him (Bumrah), and I’ve noticed with Stokes, even Stokes is an excellent player of fast bowling. He’s hurried with Bumrah,” Atherton was quoted as saying by Sky Cricket.
“He struggles to pick up the pace and a couple of times when he’s (Bumrah) got him, it looks as though the ball has kept low, which has, but it also almost beaten him for pace as well. I think that’s the issue with Bumrah,” he added.
In two matches of the series, Bumrah grabbed 15 wickets including 6/45 in the first innings of the second Test. The speedster was on fire throughout the match but Ollie Pope’s dismissal on a laser-guided yorker became the highlight of his six-wicket haul.
According to Atherton, Pope had nothing to do with that delivery and the dismissal was ‘unbelievable’ for the pacer.