Jadeja and Bumrah added 35 runs for the 9th wicket at Lord's.
Sandhu highlighted the stress in the last seconds at Lord's, pointing out that Jadeja, who is typically poised under pressure, may have allowed concerns to sneak in during his partnership with Jasprit Bumrah.
He and Bumrah put on a key 35-run partnership that lasted 22 overs, transforming a losing cause into a tense match. Bumrah faced 54 balls and scored five runs, as it appeared he was assigned the job of holding one end.
Balwinder recalled Jadeja's U-19 days at NCA to discuss how mature he was from a young age, but he felt that his fear of failure prevented him from trusting his tail at Lord's.
"Coming to the final moments, Ravindra Jadeja is someone I’ve known since his U-19 days at the National Cricket Academy. Even back then, he showed maturity beyond his age. He’s a smart cricketer, calm under pressure, but this time, maybe the fear of failing or the pressure of not trusting the tail got the better of him," Sandhu wrote in his column for Mid-day.
Looking back at the dramatic conclusion of the Lord's Test, Sandhu noted that Jadeja may have had more faith in Bumrah, particularly given how resolutely he was defending.
He believed that, especially with the field up and two deliveries remaining in the over, Jadeja might have backed himself to complete the job rather than taking a single on the fourth delivery.
"If only he had trusted Jasprit Bumrah a bit more—especially when Bumrah was defending so well—and resisted taking that single off the fourth ball to retain strike. Had he backed himself to finish it in those last two balls, with the field up, it was a perfect moment to go for the boundary,” he concluded.
India will look to level the five-Test series when they clash with England in the 4th Test in Manchester from July 23 onwards.