Alastair Cook Terms India Illegally Running On Pitch A ‘Deliberate Tactical Ploy'

Alastair Cook reckoned that Indian batters running on the protected area of the pitch was quite deliberate.

Alastair Cook, the former England skipper, rekcons that India illegally running on the protected areas of the pitch was in fact a "tactical ploy" to help create patches in the pitch that could help their spinners later in the match. For context, Cook was referring to India being penalised 5 runs after their batters were found to be running on the pitch one too many times in the third Test match at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Friday (February 16).

Notably, Ravindra Jadeja was given a warning on Day 1 of the third Test but when Ravichandran Ashwin was found to have repeated the offence, umpire Joel Wilson immediatelly signalled a five-run penalty to India after which when England's innings started they were already 5/0 without a ball being bowled. Ashwin was found in violation of Law 41.14 (Batter damaging the pitch), as per which : "a batter will be deemed to be causing avoidable damage if either umpire considers that his/her presence on the pitch is without reasonable cause".

Cook, though, felt that it was a deliberate act from Ashwin. "Is it deliberate? Yes it is," he said while speaking to TNT Sports.

"It’s a tactical ploy that you can disturb the middle of the wicket because Ashwin wants as much help when he can bowl [as possible]. Normally it happens in the third innings. You’re 150 runs, 200 runs ahead, you think, ‘lads, just make sure you get up and down the wicket’," he added.

Alastair Cook Reveals He Used The Same Tactics In His Playing Days

Cook then went on to shed light upon how he used the same tactis during his playing days. 

"We had Simon Harmer at Essex," the 39-year-old said.

"The reason why we won a lot of cricket was down to Simon Harmer, he bowled a lot of off-spin to right-handers, and if you’re batting in that third innings, there’s no rule saying where you can back up and run. So obviously our batsmen – and I’m now probably stitching up Essex for next year – you’d make sure that the footmarks which are naturally there, if you’re just walking up and down there a little bit more, you’re disturbing the surface. That was gamesmanship there," the veteran of over 161 Test matches said.