Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott has come hard on England team after conceding the Lord’s Test to India despite being in a pole position to register a victory. He has said Joe Root ‘cocked up’ with his tactics and allowed the emotions to get the better of the team against India.
Several verbal spats took place during day five at Lord’s between England and India players. The day started with England being on top of the Test but in order to give back at Jasprit Bumrah for bowling bouncers to James Anderson, the England team lost control over the game.
Also Read: Geoffrey Boycott criticizes England batsmen for poor technique against India
Bumrah coped all the fire well and contributed with the bat along with Mohammed Shami and shared 89 runs for the ninth wicket. As a result, England allowed India to dictate the terms from there on.
Boycott feels England top-three has to improve and contribute with the bat else it is getting beyond a joke.
“This Test match has proved two things. Firstly, if you are stupid, you do not deserve to win Test matches. As much as we love Joe Root for his magnificent batting, he cocked up with his tactics,” Boycott wrote in The Telegraph.
“Secondly, England cannot keep relying on Joe for all their runs. There has to be an improvement from the top three very soon because it is getting beyond a joke.”
England spread the field against Bumrah and Shami while opting for a bouncer barrage against the Indian tail. In the process, England allowed Bumrah and Shami to take easy singles and let the nerves settle down.
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“Joe had been doing well with his field placings and captaincy but seeing Jasprit Bumrah at the crease was like a red rag to a bull. He encouraged Mark Wood to just pepper him with fast short balls. It is obvious the England captain and some of his players wanted payback for the working over Bumrah gave James Anderson in the first innings,” he further added.
“Tempers were frayed. Heated words were exchanged as England seemed more intent on hitting Bumrah and Mohammad Shami instead of getting them out. The tail swiped and edged. The field spread out on both sides of the wickets to stop the run-scoring and England suffered the embarrassment of India declaring.”
India pulled off an unlikely win to skittle England for 120, winning the Test by 151 runs. Boycott gave full credit to India for pulling of their remarkable turnaround.
“At the start of play, England were favourites and I couldn’t believe England would be so poor but congratulations India. You were absolutely brilliant,” Boycott further wrote.
