“Two pillows in a gunfight” - Former cricketer blasts India’s team selection for ENG vs IND 2025 4th Test

Former England pacer Steve Harmison slammed Team India for their selections of Shardul Thakur and Anshul Kamboj in the ongoing fourth Test at Manchester. Trailing 1-2 in the best-of-five series, the visitors were in a must-win situation entering the contest to keep their series victory hopes alive.

However, the thinktank went with the out-of-form Thakur and a debutant in Kamboj for the crunch encounter. The move has backfired massively, with both pacers combining for woeful figures of 1/144 in 29 overs as England have raced to 544/7 in response to India's 358 in the first innings.

Furthermore, the duo's pace has been highly underwhelming, allowing the English batters to score at will.

Talking about the Thakur and Kamboj's selections on the talkSPORT Cricket YouTube channel, Harmison said (3:58):

"Two pillows in a gunfight, and that pillow had holes in it, having been shot in the gunfight. I thought Shardul Thakur would hit the pitch harder than he actually has. I thought he would have been a handful here than what he has actually shown."

He continued:

"I've been second-guessing India, home and away, for quite a number of years now. When they've come here in the past, I've always felt they have picked the wrong team."

While Thakur contributed a valuable 41 with the bat in India's first innings, he has struggled with the ball throughout the series, picking up only two wickets at an average of 72 and an economy of 5.33. Meanwhile, Kamboj was drafted into the side only days before the fourth Test due to the injuries to Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh.

"Shubman Gill will come under a lot of criticism for this Test match" - Steve Harmison

Shubman Gill has made several questionable calls in the Manchester Test [Credit: Getty]

Steve Harmison believes Indian skipper Shubman Gill will be massively criticized should the side lose the Manchester Test. The 25-year-old was made India's Test captain only a month before the England tour, following Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format.

Gill has made several questionable calls in the ongoing game, including opening the bowling with Kamboj over Mohammed Siraj and delaying Washington Sundar's entry into the attack until the 69th over.

"Shubman Gill will come under a lot of criticism for this Test match, and it will be justified because of the selection of bowlers if he was the one picking them. The bowlers have been poor," said Harmison (via the aforementioned source).

He added:

"When you think about logic with their selections and game plans, it goes out the window. You do scratch your head sometimes, even with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as captains before."

A defeat in the Manchester Test will make it a hat-trick of Test series losses for India, starting from the 0-3 whitewash at home against New Zealand last year.