IND vs ENG, 5th Test: Michael Vaughan slams Ben Stokes' England side for approach on Day 3, says THIS

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Former England captain Michael Vaughan criticised the England team for their approach against India in the fifth Test at the Edgbaston, Birmingham on Saturday on Day 3. Vaughan feels that Ben Stokes' side opted for the wrong approach with the bat. He feels that the English side should have approached a defensive attitude. 

"England got it completely wrong in the morning. I am a massive fan of Ben Stokes and Baz (Brendon) McCullum. I like inventive, creative, and out-of-the-box thinking. But that comes when the pitch is flat and the conditions aren’t quite in your favour,” Michael Vaughan said in an interaction with Cricbuzz.

India strengthened their stronghold on the fifth Test, taking a sizeable lead of 132 runs and extending it to 169 at tea. After Mohammed Siraj picked four wickets while Jasprit Bumrah scalped three wickets to bowl out England for 284 in 61.3 overs, with Jonny Bairstow making a belligerent 106, India lost Shubman Gill cheaply. But Cheteshwar Pujara (17 not out) and Hanuma Vihari (10 not out) stitched a stand of 33 runs to take India to 37/1 in 13 overs.

"At Edgbaston, the clouds were around. You just had to hit the top of off stump. You’ve got Broad and (James) Anderson, two of the greats of the game, bowling to Jasprit Bumrah, who can bat just a little bit. They decide to go short with all the fields spread out. It was very similar to what happened at Lord’s last year. I can’t believe they haven’t learned from what happened at Lord’s," added the former England skipper.

“In the Bazball era, sending a night-watchman in with 25 minutes left, I suddenly thought – where’s that come from? I was expecting Ben Stokes to go out there and play some shots. They have committed to aggressive cricket. They can’t suddenly go – wait, we have got to be safe. They played safe in the morning as well,” said Vaughan.