“Why were there no messages from outside?” - Former India cricketer’s brutal attack after Day 3 of ENG vs IND 2025 4th Test

Former India cricketer Murali Kartik, perplexed with the selections and decisions, brutally attacked the team after the third day of the fourth Test against England. The visitors struggled with their bowling as the hosts dominated with the bat.

Murali Kartik questioned the move to bring in Washington Sundar extremely late. Sundar came in to bowl around the 69th over of England's innings. While the other bowlers had a tough time, Sundar bagged two wickets.

Kartik was also surprised that no one from the outside passed on the message to captain Shubman Gill, who erred in his decision-making.

"I am surprised with this bowling line-up. I told it on the first day itself. Maybe someone like Washington Sundar would get the captain's faith after his performance in the last match but it did not seem so. I was astonished when others were ineffective and they did not even look at him. It was not like Jadeja was also too effective. I was surprised as to what cricketing decision this was. Also if the captain did not see it why did no one from outside tell anything? Why were there no messages from outside? I was very astonished," he said on Cricbuzz. (1:04)

England got to 544/7 at the end of the day, taking a healthy lead of 186 runs with captain Ben Stokes unbeaten on 77 at the crease. Kartik also praised the English batters for applying themselves well. He called out the Indian team for their performance and tactical decisions.

"When India came to bowl it was a little better to bat but not everything was in favor of the batters. They should be slightly disappointed with their performance. They missed a trick with some tactical decisions, including that of not bowling Sundar early. England saw two bowlers not at their 100 percent, they saw the conditions in their favor and applied themselves well," he expressed. (3:00)

The hosts are 2-1 up and will look at this as the perfect opportunity to continue dominating and seal the series.

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Murali Kartik surprised with India underutilizing Washington Sundar

The former spinner further expressed that India should have given Washington Sundar an opportunity when the ball was still hard. Sundar was effective with his drift despite not being a big turner of the ball. He feels the hosts looked to use him defensively.

"You need to give a spinner who has done well for you the hard ball. Sundar does not turn it a lot but his drift is very effective. When he got the ball today, even with the old ball there was that drift. It took him some time, but when a bowler comes on to bowl so late, he is also under pressure. The field he was given, it looked like they wanted to use him in a defensive capacity. But once he got the rhythm, he picked brilliant wickets. It is a sign of a good bowler. It was very surprising that he was underutilized," he said. (7:53)

Notably, Sundar bagged four wickets for India in the third Test at Lord's. Despite his impressive performance, not enough faith being shown in him has surprised fans and experts alike.

India are on the back foot in this game with England holding the upper hand. The visitors are already 1-2 down in the series. With the Manchester Test being a must-win game, they will now hope to fight and save the match at least.