Former England cricketer Mike Atherton criticized Joe Root for his fielding position against Pakistan. The visitors have, so far, schooled the host side with a near-perfect display in the first two days.
After dismantling England for 184, Pakistan are currently batting at 350 for 8 after two days. As a result, Pakistan are favourites to win the Test. Meanwhile, Joe Root was fielding at short leg for quite a while, something which irked Atherton as the position is not a good place to captain the team from.
"I think that’s a ridiculous place to captain from," Atherton said on Sky Sports commentary. "Utterly ridiculous.”
"You captain well from first slip. You captain well from mid-off or mid-on where you’ve got a nice view of the game. Under the lid at short leg is no place for a captain to be."
England have lacked a proper short leg fielder in Tests for some time now but Atherton believes that regardless of lacking a short-leg fielder, that is not a place for Root to field because only the backside of the batsman is visible from there.
"England have a had a problem in that situation because Mark Stoneman, who did it in the winter, is not very good there. But I don’t care if Mark Stoneman is not very good, find someone else to do it.
"The captain should not be at short leg. You can’t see the game. All you’ve got a view of is the batsman’s backside."
Pakistan are currently favourites to win the Lord’s Test unless England come up with a miracle and save themselves from the blushes of embarrassment.
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