England captain Joe Root shouldered responsibility for his team’s miserable 151-run defeat at the hands of India in the second Test on Monday (August 16), saying he got his field placing and bowling approach tactically wrong at Lord’s Cricket Stadium.
England lost control in the game after a chaotic unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 89 between Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah on the final morning, which turned the game in favor of Team India, as the hosts were then bowled out for 120 inside two sessions to lose the second Test by 151 runs at Lord's.
After the massive defeat, Root admitted that he wasn't at his best during India's fightback on Day 5, guilty of baffling field placings and failing to instill enough discipline in the bowling attack at Lord’s.
Root said at the post-match virtual news conference: “I think a lot falls on my shoulders as captain. Tactically I could have done things slightly differently. It (Shami and Bumrah partnership) was the pivotal moment of the game, without question, and I don't think I dealt with that well enough tactically.”
He added, “As captain, you take responsibility. It's very raw right now. That partnership put us in a difficult position. We went from being in a very strong position, where we looked like we were going to go on and win this game, to being behind and making it very difficult for ourselves. It's just disappointing we didn't manage to close out that innings how we could have. Probably I just underestimated how challenging and useful the lower order defense can be so as I said a lot falls on my shoulders.”
The English skipper also admitted the short-ball ploy against Shami and Bumrah failed while crediting the Indian team for snatching the game from the hosts from the winning position at Lord’s.
Root explained, “We got a few things wrong, but credit to them, they played well for that partnership. Looking back, I'd look at some of the field placings and the way we bowled. We could have looked at maybe attacking the stumps a little bit more frequently and using the short ball as more of a surprise. We have to give them some credit. They scored in unusual areas and made it hard to set conventional fields and you were trying to manage taking wickets but not letting the game get away from us.”
On being asked if batting was becoming a burden on his captaincy, Root said: “There have been plenty of occasions in my career when others have carried me through games. We've just got to keep being better at building those big partnerships. I am an experienced captain now. I've played a lot of Test cricket as a batter and I'm at a different point in my career when compared with a lot of the other guys. Batting is a collective effort.”
On Virat Kohli’s style of captaincy and the tension and flare-ups between the two teams in the second Test, Root said: “Virat's got his style and his way of doing things that are probably contrasting naturally to the way I play my cricket. Fair play to Virat and his team, they've jumped on something emotional that's given them an edge and something to cling on to tactically.”
He signed off by saying, “India as a side grabbed onto something and used that to their advantage on this occasion. As far as I'm concerned, I don't think there is any nastiness or hatred there between anyone out there on the field.”
(With PTI Inputs)
