Kohli and team played an ineffable game: Root on Lord’s Test

England skipper Joe Root has denied using the short-ball tactic a bit too much in the second innings, but admitted that India jumped on to something that emotionally gave them an edge.

England was in the box seat in the second innings after reducing India to 209/8, but the hosts lost the plot when Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami came to the crease. England used the short ball a bit too much, and the Indian duo played sensibly to form an 89-run stand for the ninth wicket. “Fair play to Virat Kohli and his team. They jumped on to something that emotionally gave them an edge. I think a lot falls on my shoulders as captain,” he said. “Tactically I could have done things slightly differently,” cricket.com.au quoted Root as saying.

“The Shami and Bumrah partnership was the pivotal moment of the game, without question, and I don’t think I dealt with that well enough tactically. It put us in a difficult position. Looking back, I’d look at some of the field placings and the way that we bowled. We could have looked at maybe attacking the stumps a little bit more frequently and using the short ball as more of a surprise,” he added.

India and England provided an intense spectacle on the fifth day as players from both sides engaged in verbal duels and in the end, it was Kohli’s team who emerged triumphant in an engaging match. In the second innings, India was struggling at 209/8 and it was then that Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami got together to stitch an unbeaten 89-run stand for the ninth wicket. Shami and Bumrah remained unbeaten on 56 and 34.

“We have to give them some credit. They scored in unusual areas and made it hard to set conventional fields and (we) were trying to manage taking wickets but not letting the game get away from us. But I would have taken a little bit more time and probably brought more modes of dismissal into the game sooner,” said Root.

“When the ball got softer, it didn’t seem to move as much laterally as with the newer ball but we probably underestimated how useful challenging a lower-order player’s defence can be. Credit to India but I don’t think there is any hiding from the fact we need to get better,” he added.

At the start of the day, England looked like the favourites to win the match. But Bumrah and Shami showed class with the bat, and then an epic bowling performance sealed the deal for the visitors. England battled hard, but their top-order failures led to their downfall with the team being steamrolled for just 120 in the second innings, handing visitors a win by 151 runs.

“We need to score heavier. The guys will know that. They are working extremely hard. We need to be better at building big partnerships. We did it well for periods in this game in the first innings but we need to do it for longer and make it count, make it last. We also need to be better at starting our innings, finding a way into the match,” said Root.