Former England player Monty Panesar has shared that England had underestimated Indian captain Virat Kohli and his character during the second Test. They targeted and “bullied” pacer Jasprit Bumrah at Lord’s, a tactic which didn’t go down well with the Indian team. And, later India bounced back as England faced a heavy defeat.
India won the Test by a massive 151 runs, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series. Notably, Jasprit Bumrah was involved in a heated argument with James Anderson on Day 3 which later Virat Kohli gave back to Anderson also during the second innings.
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“I am sure it all came from England coach Chris Silverwood. That was his idea, ‘let’s target India’s number 10 or 11, bouncing them really hard and rattle them.’ India were like, ‘okay you are after one of our guys, we all will be after you now.’ India’s tactic really worked in their favour. England thought that they would bully the Indian team. ‘Let’s bully Jasprit Bumrah, the number 11.’ But they weren’t aware of what kind of character Virat Kohli is. He was observing everything and then came back hard on England. He is a guy who never forgives,” Monty Panesar told Timesofindia.com in an interview.
“He will support his team in every way no matter what. Virat can’t tolerate the bullying of his teammates. England started but it backfired and all credit goes to Virat. England were intimidated by the Indian team. On Day 5, when they got Rishabh Pant out, they thought they would get Shami and Bumrah cheaply too. But everything backfired for England. You just can’t mess with India. Virat can’t take bullying. He will give it back to you strongly,” the former player further added.
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On the other hand, former cricketer Maninder Singh applauded India captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri’s influence on Team India. However, the third Test will start on August 25 at Headingley. “Virat is a hard taskmaster. The credit has to go to him. But I would give credit to this unit as a whole. Let’s not forget Ravi Shastri. He is doing a commendable job. He is the one who is injecting confidence in the team and youngsters,” Maninder Singh said.
