Former England captain Michael Vaughan has said he doesn’t see Joe Root’s men making a comeback into the 5-Test series after losing the 2nd Test by a crushing margin at Lord’s, London on Monday. Vaughan said India are fired up after scripting a remarkable comeback on Day 5 of the Lord’s Test and they are unlikely to be stopped by this English side.
England were the favourites to go 1-0 up as they headed into Day 5 action after having restricted India to 181 for 6. India banked on Rishabh Pant to get the job done in the first session on Monday but the wicketkeeper-batsman fell early. However, India scripted a stunning comeback with Mohammed Shami hitting a fifty and Jasprit Bumrah hanging around for a solid 34 as the two tail-enders added 89 not out for the 9th wicket.
India then returned to the field with their pacers charged up. After picking up 2 wickets early, India went on to bowl England out for 120 in less than 52 overs to go 1-0 up in the 5-match series. It was a strong statement from India who were subjected to sledging from the England camp.
“England have prodded them. They have fired them up. It will take a very good England team to come back from here – and I don’t think they will. It’s going to be a long three Test matches from here,” Vaughan told BBC.
Jasprit Bumrah and James Anderson were involved in a heated verbal battle on Day 4 when the India pacer peppered the England veteran with bouncers. England gave it back when Bumrah was batting but the Indian tail-ender frustrated the hosts with a game-changing partnership with Shami.
In fact, Virat Kohli conceded that the on-field banter with England did give their bowlers the motivation to go for the win on Monday with not much time left on the clock.
“The way we played in the second innings after being put under pressure – Jasprit and Shami were outstanding. We had the belief we can get them out in 60 overs. A bit of tension on the field really motivated us to finish the game,” Kohli said after India’s 151-run win.
Meanwhile, Vaughan was critical of captain Joe Root’s tactics when England allowed Shami and Bumrah to stitch the frustrating partnership towards the end of the 2nd innings. India went from 194 for 7 to 298 for 8 before Kohli declared the Indian innings, setting England a target of 272 runs.
“They were all over the place. I’ve got no idea what they were thinking. The key when you’re under pressure is to keep things simple. You’re bowling to tailenders, bowl to hit the top of off stump, don’t bowl short and wide,” Vaughan said.
“Jasprit Bumrah had more fielders on the boundary than Rishabh Pant. How can that happen when you’ve got players like Joe Root and James Anderson who have played over 100 Test matches? They got the tactics completely wrong.”
