Chennai: Former Australia spinner Shane Warne wasn't impressed with England's approach in the third and final session on day four of the first Test against India on Monday.
Warne was surprised with the visitors' decision to not declare in the second innings even after having a mammoth lead. The spin legend was also fumed at England's slow approach with the bat on day four of the first Test. India bundled out England for 178 runs in the second innings with the English side leading by 419 runs. At stumps on day four, India's score read 39/1, with Shubman Gill on 15* and Cheteshwar Pujara on12*.
England didn't declare even after having a lead of more than 400 runs and the visitors weren't even looking to score runs at a quick pace before they folded up for 178/10. Ashwin picked six wickets, restricting England to a low total in their second innings.
In a series of tweets, Warne explained how England was following Australia's footsteps of playing "timid and cautious cricket" against India.
The former spinner pointed out how the decision to not declare will be put a lot of pressure on England's bowlers.
"England's mindset is let's not lose this test match - rather than, what's the best way to win this test match and how many overs could we need! This batting on decision is now putting a lot of pressure on England's bowlers and particularly their spinners," Warner tweeted.
"@MichaelVaughanIn Australia India played courageous and brave cricket - was awesome to watch! Australia played timid and cautious cricket & Australia lost the series. England are playing cautious and timid cricket," he added.
India need 381 runs on day 5 to win the first Test against England after Ravichandran Ashwin helped the hosts to end visitors' second innings on 178 runs.
