India had run out of ideas but England let them back in again: Mark Butcher

Former England batsman Mark Butcher was unimpressed by the national team's batting display on day two of the fourth Test against India. Mark Butcher criticized the Three Lions for allowing India a sniff despite favorable batting conditions on day two at the Oval.

Although England did well to recover from 62-5 to take a 99-run lead but most batsmen failed to convert their starts. The likes of Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan made impressive 30s and perished at crucial junctures. Only Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes made half-centuries, with the former top-scoring with 81.

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul take India to stumps on 43/0, trailing England by 56.#WTC23 | #ENGvIND | https://t.co/zRhnFj1Srx pic.twitter.com/2Lxp68jbPY

— ICC (@ICC) September 3, 2021

Responding to Nasser Hussain's comments on the lack of England's toughness in the middle order on Sky Sports, Mark Butcher remembered when Indian bowlers looked clueless. Butcher said India could not make the ball talk, failing to control Ali and Pope.

"It’s easy to forget they were five down for 60 but I think there was an occasion there towards the back end towards the lunch and tea break and onwards where India had ran out of ideas. They weren’t able to make the ball move so much, it was getting soft which they were complaining about and they couldn’t stem the flow of runs from Moeen Ali and Ollie Pope."

Mark Butcher unhappy with Moeen Ali's method of attacking

Mark Butcher. (Image Credits: Twitter)

Mark Butcher further claimed that England let India back into the game. The cricketer-turned-commentator was particularly unhappy about Moeen's shot selection against Ravindra Jadeja. Butcher stated that Ali has repeated the pattern often throughout his career.

"England let them back in again and I'm not criticising Moeen for trying to have a go at the left-arm spinner, he has the best strike-rate against spin of anybody in the world in white-ball cricket so he can take down the left-arm spinner. It's the option that has blown people's minds about Moeen Ali throughout his career. How can a guy who's so good and with so many options often pick the wrong one?"

Butcher added:

"Mid-off and mid-on were up, there were two men back on the leg side for that slog sweep and he went for the slog sweep when he could bash it over long-on and long-off and there was nobody back."

Both Butcher and Hussain opined that England should have extended the lead well beyond 100. At the close of day two, India reached 43-0, still trailing by 56 runs.