Shastri, Ponting, Karthik flay Gambhir over 'extremely surprising' Manchester call: ‘Trying to work out the logic...’

Ricky Ponting, Ravi Shastri, and Dinesh Karthik questioned why India sent Shardul Thakur ahead of Washington Sundar despite his better Test record.

It was an odd Day 1 for India at Old Trafford. Put to bat first after losing the toss for the 14th straight time in international cricket, the openers, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal got the home team off to a promising start in the must-win fourth Test match, stitching a 94-run stand, before Chris Woakes got the breakthrough early after lunch, and soon left India three down for 140 at the stroke of tea.

India's captain Shubman Gill, left, and Head Coach Gautam Gambhir before the fourth test cricket match between India and England, at Old Trafford (PTI)

Rishabh Pant then brought out his audacious gameplay, scoring 37 off 48 to frustrate England through the first half of the final session, before a full toss from Woakes hit his boot and he was carted off the ground, retired hurt. This hurt India's momentum as they lost Sai Sudharsan shortly after his maiden Test fifty, leaving India 235 for four.

With seven overs left for the new ball and close to an hour still left on the clock, India sent right-handed Shardul Thakur at No. 7, ahead of left-handed batter Washington Sundar, which left experts baffled.

Speaking on commentary, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting questioned the logic behind India head coach Gautam Gambhir's move, highlighting that Sundar (39) had a better batting average than Thakur (19).

"I'm just trying to work out the logic from India here as to why they've sent Shardul in ahead of Washington Sundar. Just looking at the numbers, I mean, Washington averages nearly 39 in Test cricket and Shardul is down at 17. And he's [Sundar] not being sent out. He's [Shardul] not a night watchman, there's still 40 minutes of play here, and a new ball around the corner."

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, who was also in the commentary box, agreed with the Aussie saying: "All the more reason [to send Sundar ahead of Shardul]". He added: "He played in the first Test match. Dismissed pretty cheaply, a couple of loose shots," referring to Thakur's scores of 1 and 4 in the series opener in Leeds last month.

Veteran India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, who later replaced Ponting in the commentary, spoke much on the same lines, saying that Gambhir's move left him surprised. He said: "I was extremely surprised too, considering how well Washington has batted, not only in this series, but in the recent past – and he's batted better with batters around. He's not been that effective with the tail."

Sundar has made crucial contributions with the bat in this series, scoring 42 and 12 in the second Test and 23 and 0 at Lord's, in addition to his six wickets thus far in the series. Overall, he has 545 runs in Test cricket, at 38.92 in 11 Tests, laced with four fifties.