'I'm no fortune teller': Former Pakistan captain Raja slams England think tank for losing 2nd Test to India

Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja slammed the England team management for their 'poor selection', which he believed was the main reason for their defeat to India in the second test in Chennai

Stating the team selection as the main reason for their defeat to India in the second Test in Chennai, former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja slammed the England team management. Raja said there was no need to make use of rotation policy in an important Test series against India.

Ramiz Raja spoke about England's selection after they lost by 317 runs to India in the second Test in Chennai

England made four changes to their team that beat India by 227 runs and ended up losing the second Test by 317 runs. James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler and Dom Bess made way for Stuart Broad, Olly Stone, Ben Foakes and Moeen Ali. Archer was a forced one as he was ruled out with an injury.

“There was no need to use something like a rotation policy to rest James Anderson. He made use of the reverse swing exceedingly well. There was no need to tinker with the winning combination (of the first Test). At the end of the day, you need to take 20 wickets to win a Test but if you change the combination which was going to make it possible then it will always be difficult,” said Ramiz in his YouTube channel.

The top-order batsman said he had predicted England’s defeat just by seeing their selection for the second Test against India.

“I’m no fortune teller, nor do I consider myself the Nostradamus of cricket who can predict everything by looking at his crystal balls. At the same time, I’m not someone who says anything by fluke. But I had predicted that whatever happens England can’t win this Test as their selection was very poor and they lost the match because of it.

“India won the toss on a turner, put runs on the board so it was always going to be difficult for England to avoid defeat,” he added.

Raja said the excessive use of data can hamper your use of judging the present scenario while selectin the best XI, which is exactly what happened with England.

“Most importantly, I still believe in gut feeling. So many things have been tried to complicate the game of cricket. You sometimes base your selection just by looking at a bowler’s record against a particular opposition batsman.

“It was not as if the match was being played in some other venue. It was happening in the same place. They should have strengthened their spin department. But they are so much depended on data that completely overlook the present scenario and game awareness.

“They have basically suffered because of wrong selection. Instead of playing an extra spinner in place Archer they played a fast bowler who was never going to bring reverse swing into effect because of his high-arm action,” Raja added.

India and England will again square-off against each other in the third Test at Ahmedabad which will be a pink-ball affair.