Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar agreed with his idol and fellow Mumbaikar Sunil Gavaskar and said he doesn't see any other batsman other than Joe Root who can go out in the middle and get a big hundred.
"This England team has had a history of collapses. I felt that is where they lost the grip, and if you look at their batting, how many batters can one say, this guy can come out and get a big hundred? In this team, I don't see anyone other than Joe Root," Tendulkar told PTI.
"Teams of past had a number of such players like Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Andrew Strauss. Yes, they might get an odd hundred, but how many can get big hundreds consistently? Other than Root, I can't find anyone, and that's the state of their batting today. Maybe the reason for Root to opt for fielding first," he added.
Tendulkar said he was initially surprised by Root's decision to bowl first, which wasn't ideal.
"I felt that in itself was an indication that England was worried about our fast bowling attack. Bowling first wasn't an ideal decision by the England captain, and credit to our openers, they were brilliant," Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar was puzzled by England bowlers' inability to bowl in good length areas to the tailenders, something they had managed to do with the top order and said the England team's body language was poor.
"If you can dismiss the top-order by bowling in good areas, why wouldn't you try that with the tailenders? I thought they were impatient and felt they wanted to scare them by bowling short, but it actually was one of the reasons that triggered their motivation to stay at the crease and add those invaluable 100-odd runs. The game slowly and surely slipped from England's grasp during that first session on the fifth day. Their body language wasn't great," he said.
Virat Hasn't Had a Great Start: Tendulkar
Tendulkar also said that Indian captain Virat Kohli's hasn't had a great start to the five-match series, with technical errors in his batting.
"Virat hasn't had a great start. It is the mind that leads to technical errors, and if the start isn't good, you start thinking about a lot of things. Because anxiety levels are high, you tend to overcompensate your movements. When a batsman isn't in good form, you either go too far across or don't move your feet at all. That happens to everyone. Form is also your state of mind along with the body working in harmony," he said.
Earlier, Gavaskar said that Virat hasn't really played well so far in the series.
"He is playing at deliveries way outside off stump and a little too early in the innings. This time around, the foot is somewhere else, the bat is somewhere else, which means that he hasn't really played well," Gavaskar said on the Sony Sports Network.
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