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'It's been a pattern for the entire series' - Abhinav Mukund's huge statement on India's defeat in 2nd T20I

CricTracker | July 17, 2026 2:39 PM CST

Former India opener Abhinav Mukund said that the English bowlers have peppered India with short-pitched bowling on the entire tour and it has paid dividends. Mukund's assessment came after England won the second ODI by four wickets at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday, July 16, to level the series 1-1 with a game to spare.

England's pace trio of Jofra Archer, Saqib Mahmood, and Gus Atkinson wreaked havoc, picking three, two, and three wickets, respectively. India were bowled out for just 233 in 44 overs and England chased it down with 35 balls left.

Mukund noted that the England seamers have bowled short and forced the Indian batters to go for the pull shots on bigger square boundaries. He particularly mentioned Archer's name, saying that the 31-year-old has been brilliant so far with his usage of the short ball.

"It's been a pattern for the entire series - England peppering India with short pitch stuff on grounds that have bigger square boundaries, where the pull shots are not going out of the ground. England's bowlers have been extremely effective with the usage of the short pitch delivery and I think Archer has been brilliant. Virat got caught out and then you had two more dismissals to the short pitch stuff," Mukund said during a discussion on Cricinfo.

"India's pacers bowled better" - Abhinav Mukund on quality of fast bowling in 2nd ENG vs IND 2026 ODI

Mukund, however, opined that the Indian pacers bowled better than their English counterparts. He was impressed by young Gurnoor Brar, who took the wickets of Harry Brook and Will Jacks.

"To be fair, I felt India's pacers bowled better than the English pacers because their new ball spell was better. The usage of the short ball in the final spell from Gurnoor Brar, all of it were very big tick boxes for me. I felt England did not bowl well in the first 10. Unfortunately for India, the second spell where both Mahmood and Atkinson and Archer, all of them came back, ended up getting a lot of wickets.," Mukund said.

Joe Root guided England home by remaining unbeaten on 99 runs. Atkinson was at the other end on 23 off 16 when the match got finished.