‘I was really disappointed’: Ex-captain Michael Atherton blasts Ollie Robinson’s performance in Ranchi Test

England’s dismissal show in the India tour took a new low on Monday (Feb 26) after Ben Stokes and Co lost the Ranchi Test by five wickets.

The defeat which condemned England to their first Test series loss in almost two years had a string of poor performances with both bat and ball as hosts India pocketed the series 3-1 with still a match to go. After the defeat, former captain Michael Atherton did not hold back and criticised the performance of Ollie Robinson in particular and claimed that he was not fit to be in the Playing XI for the Ranchi Test.

Atherton blasts Robinson

“Ollie Robinson, I was really disappointed with him in this game. I felt that he bowled, his pace was pedestrian, and he was quite down on pace. Obviously scored that half-century, but dropped a catch. He was not called upon by Stokes on the last day and he looked like a player who had been out of cricket for seven months. He looks like a bowler who needs a good run of game time now, not necessarily with England either,” Atherton said on Sky Cricket Podcast.

Robinson was an unused member of the bowling roster on Day 4 of the Ranchi Test despite England having a narrow chance of winning the match. The pacer’s best show came with the bat when he helped England score above 300 and gave a good hand to Joe Root for completing his hundred on Day 1 of the match.