Kaif also put blamed of India's loss on captain Shubman Gill and pacer Mohammed Siraj.
Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has alleged that England’s Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer were bowling bouncers at India’s tailender Jasprit Bumrah in a plan to injure him during the recent third Test that was played at Lord’s.
England won the match by 22 runs as Ravindra Jadeja’s 61* and his valiant effort to shepherd the tailenders from 82/7 towards the 193-run target fell agonizingly short. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj gave their best with the bat to assist Jadeja and almost took India past the finish line.
Mohammed Kaif, a former batter for India, has blamed Siraj and captain Shubman Gill for the humiliating loss.
Siraj's request for a ball change in the first innings, which stopped India's momentum after Bumrah had taken three early wickets, was criticized by Kaif. Kaif claims that the move made it possible for Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse, two English players, to save the country.
"Siraj is always emotional, so I think approving his call and changing the ball [was a mistake]. When the ball got changed, it didn't move.
If Crawley hadn't gotten out on Day 3, he could've gotten dismissed on the next day. Was he in good form? He is no Joe Root. It was a loss for us. Gill lost his cool, Siraj joined him, and then Reddy celebrated after getting him out. You can show aggression, but you need to do that at the right time. They didn't choose the right time," Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
Additionally, Kaif indicated that on Day 5, bowler Jofra Archer and England skipper Ben Stokes intentionally hit Bumrah with a string of bouncers to injure him as well as dismiss him.
"Stokes and Archer planned to bowl bouncers against Bumrah. If he doesn't get out, hit him on the finger or shoulder to injure him. This stays in the mind of bowlers to injure the main bowler, whom our batters find tough to bat against. This was the plan, which worked later (to get him out)," said Kaif.
England, who lead the series 2-1, will clash with India in the 4th Test from July 23 onwards.