No animosity, that's Virat way of doing things, says Root after loss to India
On-field altercation between Jasprit Bumrah of India and James Anderson of England on the fourth day of the second Test at Lord’s had no element of “nastiness or hatred between anyone”, said England captain Joe Root, as he down played bitterness between the two teams.
India beat England by 151 runs in a thriller of a contest in the second Test at Lord’s on Monday. This was India’s third-ever victory at Lord’s, the Mecca of cricket.
Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, the tail-enders, set the stage for India’s victory as they frustrated the English bowlers with a crucial 89-run partnership on Day 5. By the time Kohli declared the innings, India looked strong setting a target of 271 to win for the hosts. The English batsmen could not stand up to the pace attack of Bumrah-Shami-Siraj-Ishant and bundled out for just 120 runs.
Earlier, Bumrah and Shami’s decisive innings inspired the team to hit back and win the Lord’s Test convincingly.
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Despite tension during the match, Root said everything is fine between the two teams. “Virat’s got his style and his way of doing things that’s probably contrasting naturally to the way I play my cricket. Fair play to Virat and his team, they’ve jumped on something emotional that’s given them an edge and something to cling on to tactically,” Root said while speaking to media after the Lord’s defeat.
“India as a side grabbed onto something and used that to their advantage on this occasion. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t think there is any nastiness or hatred there between anyone out there on the field,” he said.
Root said he made a mistake by underestimating the Indian lower-order batsmen. The English captain said that after Rishabh Pant’s departure, they were in a position to call the shots but lost the tactical advantage to an 89-run magnificent stand between Shami (56 not out) and Bumrah (34 not out).
“Looking back, I’d look at some of the field placings and the way we bowled. We could have looked at maybe attacking the stumps a little bit more frequently and using short ball as more of a surprise,” Root said.
“We have to give them some credit. They scored in unusual areas and made it hard to set conventional fields and you 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,” he said.
The English captain was also disappointed with his team’s batting show. Root along with Jos Buttler (25) and Moeen Ali (13) were the only ones to reach double figures in the second innings on Monday. The first three batsmen — Rory Burns, Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed – could manage only 0, 0 and 9.
“I expected us to bat out so it’s disappointing we didn’t manage to. We need to score heavier. The guys will know that. Credit to India but I don’t think there is any hiding from the fact we need to get better,” Root said.
