Former England Captain Expresses Confusion Over Ravichandran Ashwin's Actions.

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen expressed dissatisfaction with Ravichandran Ashwin's batting performance on the third day of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam. Despite India's dominant position in the second innings, Ashwin adopted a defensive approach, contributing to the team's loss of wickets towards the end of the play. Pietersen criticized Ashwin's tactics with the tail, particularly questioning his decision-making as India went from 211 for four to being bowled out for 255.

Pietersen, in an interview with Jio Cinema at the end of the day's play, stated, "Day 3 belonged to India. They did waste their opportunities though. I don't know what Ashwin was doing with the tail. They were 211 for four before being bowled out for 255. So they wasted the opportunity of drilling England. If they could have gone over 400 or 450, it would have been 100 per cent a result for India."

Despite Shubman Gill's century, England was set a record victory target of 399 on the third day. England, leading the series 1-0, finished the day at 67-1 after losing opener Ben Duckett for 28. Pietersen highlighted the missed opportunity for India to set a higher target for England, emphasizing that a score of 400 or 450 would have significantly increased India's chances of securing a favorable result.

The commentary also mentioned the significance of Ashwin's dismissal of Duckett, his 497th Test wicket. As England faces a challenging task in pursuit of 399, Pietersen's criticism of Ashwin's batting approach adds an additional layer of scrutiny to India's overall performance in the match.