"I thought the senior players would do something" - Owais Shah criticizes England's batting on Day 3 of 5th Test vs India

Owais Shah has criticized the England batters for failing to counter the Indian spinners on a decent batting track.

India defeated England by an innings and 64 runs on Day 3 of the fifth Test in Dharamsala on Saturday, March 9. The visitors, who conceded a 259-run first-innings lead, were bundled out for 195 in their second essay to lose the series by a 4-1 margin.

During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, Owais Shah was asked about his thoughts on England's second-innings batting.

"What should I say? We were bowled out quickly in the first innings but my heart was saying that they might show a little character in this innings because England were in a very difficult situation," he responded.

"I thought the senior players, who have a lot of experience, would do something today because the conditions were good. The wicket was very good. India scored close to 500 runs," the former England batter added.

Owais Shah noted that the pitch wasn't playing any tricks and that the visiting batters should know how to counter the spinners.

"So there was nothing wrong with the wicket and it was just the third day of the Test match. The ball was neither staying low nor bouncing too much. The ball will spin when you play in India and you should know how to play that," he stated.

Joe Root (84) was the only experienced England batter to put up a fight. While Jonny Bairstow was dismissed for a quickfire 39, Ben Stokes managed only two runs.

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"It is an examination of technique and mind" - Owais Shah on Jonny Bairstow's dismissal after a conversation with Shubman Gill

Jonny Bairstow was trapped leg-before-wicket by Kuldeep Yadav.

Owais Shah was further asked about Jonny Bairstow getting dismissed after a conversation with the close-in fielders.

"Shubman Gill and James Anderson had some conversation and Anderson took Shubman Gill's wicket after one or two overs. A conversation happened between Bairstow and Gill, and Kuldeep sent Bairstow back," he replied.

"It is an examination of technique and mind, how mentally focussed you can be on your game in Test cricket. Conversations will happen and they should happen as well because the examination is about whether you can zone that out and still perform or not," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Bairstow and Ben Stokes endured a poor run with the bat in the five-match series. While the right-handed batter failed to score a single half-century and aggregated 238 runs at an average of 23.80, the England skipper managed only 199 runs at an average of 19.90 despite playing a 70-run knock in his first outing.