Coming from well behind, India registered an exceptional victory in the 2nd Test against England at Lord’s by 151 runs to take a 1-0 lead with three matches still to go. However, when the final day of the Test started, England looked the clear favourites to close out the game.
It became more realistic when English skipper Joe Root employed strange tactics which eventually led to an astonishing comeback from the Indian lower order duo of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.
The English fast bowlers kept bowling short which actually played into the hands of Shami and Bumrah. Shami went onto score an unbeaten 56 while Bumrah was undefeated on 34.
Bumrah was hit on the helmet twice but defied all the odds by taking on the challenge and ended up with a vital contribution for his team. For these bizarre tactics from Root, former English skipper turned analyst Michael Vaughan came hard at the coach Chris Silverwood for his non-interference on that entire matter.
“The nadir came in that hour and 20 minutes before lunch on the fifth day of the second Test, which must rank among the worst stuff I’ve seen from an England Test team in years. Why was Silverwood not sending someone out onto the pitch with a drink, asking Root what the hell was going on and getting him to change tactics? I know that is what Duncan Fletcher would have done with me had I suffered a brain-fade on the field,” wrote Vaughan on his Facebook page.
India managed to secure a lead of 271 runs in the second innings, ruling out a chance of an England win. With just 60 overs left in the day’s play, the pace quartet of Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj bowled their heart out managing to bowl out England for just 120 runs with more than 8 overs left.
England suffered a heavy 151-run defeat at Lord’s and must come back strongly in order to level the series. The 3rd Test match will be played at Headingly, Leeds starting from the 25th of August. The first Test match between these two teams ended up in a stalemate as rain intervened on the final day.