England’s tactics in the second Test against India, according to Geoffrey Boycott, were “dumb,” and they also let emotions get the better of them.
England, who had a promising start to Day 5 of the Lord’s Test, eventually lost by 151 runs to a “brilliant” India.
Players exchanged words on a frequent basis, but India took advantage of the hostile atmosphere to up their game, while the hosts were distracted.
“Two things have been proven in this Test match. To begin with, you do not deserve to win Test matches if you are foolish. Joe Root, as much as we admire him for his batting prowess, made a tactical blunder. Former England captain Boycott wrote in The Telegraph.
“Secondly, England cannot continue to rely on Joe for every run. It has to get better from the top three very soon, because it’s beginning to be a joke.”
When Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami were batting, England spread the field out, and the two pacers shared a record 89-run stand for India, setting England a 272-run total. With less than 10 overs remaining in the game, the hosts were bowled out for 120.
“Joe had been doing well in the field and as captain, but seeing Jasprit Bumrah at the crease was like a red rag to a bull.”
“He told Mark Wood to just throw fast, short balls at him.” The England skipper and some of his players clearly sought retaliation for Bumrah’s working over of James Anderson in the first innings.
“It was a tense situation. England seemed more keen on hitting Bumrah and Mohammad Shami than getting them out, which resulted in heated exchanges.”
“The tail swung back and forth. To hinder the run-scoring, the field was spread out on both sides of the wickets, and England was humiliated by India declaring.”
Boycott also praised India for pulling off a historic victory.
“At the outset of the game, England was the favourite, and I couldn’t imagine they’d be so bad, but congrats to India.” “You were just fantastic.”