Boycott felt hosts seemed more intent on hitting Bumrah-Shami instead of getting them out.
At Stumps on Day 4, India were 181/6 and after England was successful in removing Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma in quick succession on Day 5, it looked as if Joe Root and Co. had the match in their pocket but they lost the plot when Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami were at the crease.
Former England batsman Sir Geoffrey Boycott in his column for The Telegraph slammed this England team for losing this Lord’s Test match due to poor tactics.
“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,” Boycott wrote.
ENG v IND 2021: Shane Warne slams England's tactics against Bumrah-Shami after Lord's defeat
Boycott then addressed the fact that when Bumrah and Shami were at the crease, instead of attacking and getting the India lower-order batters out, the English pacers looked more focused on hitting them.
“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,” the 80-year-old further wrote.
“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,” he concluded.
In the end, India won the Test match by 151 runs by bowling hosts out for 120 runs and went 1-0 up in the five-match Test series with the third Test match getting underway at Headingley in Leeds from August 25.
(With The Telegraph Inputs)