Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott has blasted England in the wake of their defeat against India by 152 runs at the Lord’s Cricket Stadium in London. As a result, Virat Kohli & Co. lead the five-match series by 1-0 with three matches to go.
Meanwhile, India didn’t have the best of starts in the morning session of day 5. They were in a spot of bother after Ollie Robinson got Rishabh Pant out early on day 5. With 209/8, England were fancying their chances to bowl India out and go for a win. But Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami displayed immense grit and determination to post a target of 272 runs.
Joe Root’s tactics came under the scanner after the Indian tail added 89 runs for the ninth wicket. In his column for The Telegraph, Geoffrey Boycott questioned the captaincy of Joe Root.
“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. 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,” Geoffrey Boycott said.
Meanwhile, in return, Indian bowlers bowled exceedingly well to bowl out England for 120 runs. Skipper Joe Root tried his best to bail the hosts out of danger but he lacked support from the other end. Jos Buttler tried his best at the end but Siraj and Bumrah came out on top. Mohammed Siraj picked up four while Jasprit Bumrah chipped in with three wickets alongside Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami, who returned with two and one wickets each.
England showed no intent in getting Bumrah and Shami out – Geoffrey Boycott
Adding further, Geoffrey Boycott also highlighted that England bowlers were keen to hit Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, than getting them out. He added:
“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. Heated words were exchanged as England seemed more intent on hitting Bumrah and Mohammad Shami instead of getting them out.”
