Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar believes that the battle between Jasprit Bumrah and James Anderson in the recently concluded Test at Lord’s was probably part of Indian captain Virat Kohli's plan to either “soften or injure” the England pacer.
The Lord’s Test saw plenty of heated exchanges taking place between Team India and England players, but Anderson’s altercation with Kohli after the barrage of short deliveries the Englishman had received from Bumrah on Day 3 caught more attention of the cricket fans.
The incident took place late on Day 3 at Lord’s when Bumrah bowled a barrage of bouncers in one over to Anderson and even the 39-year-old pacer was hit on the rim of his helmet, as well as, on the body by the furious deliveries from the speedster.
However, after a concussion test on Anderson, Bumrah continued with his barrage of short-pitched deliveries at Lord’s that didn’t go down well with the veteran bowler.
Anderson had a little war of words with Bumrah and even the English pacer brushed off his hands with the Indian star to let him know his discontent. Later, Kohli had multiple exchanges with Anderson, Jost Buttler, and Ollie Robinson before India won the second Test by 151 runs at Lord’s.
Manjrekar wrote in his column for The Hindustan Times, “When, out of the blue, Jasprit Bumrah started a relentless attack of short balls aimed into the body of no 11 Jimmy Anderson. It was very un-Bumrah like. Normally you would expect him to bowl a fast, full delivery into the stumps to Anderson to finish off the innings quickly as he did in the first.”
The commentator further added, “I am guessing this was Virat Kohli's plan executed by Bumrah. Go after the main guy in the opposition, soften him up a little, stir him up a bit or maybe injure him in a way that the main English weapon was blunted.”
He also hailed Kohli's “great attribute” to be fearless of criticism, adding India’s ploy genuinely affected Anderson and it “bruised” his ego as well at Lord’s.
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Manjrekar further explained, “Whatever the reason, I just loved it. Why? Because right through my playing career no captain of mine - barring one - did this to any opposition fast bowler fearing the backlash. This is Virat’s great attribute. He is genuinely aggressive and fearless and he is in your face. His team may not be as demonstrative of this trait, but they are bound to imbibe some of it. At the end of Day 3, while walking out you could see Anderson was genuinely affected. He had lost his calm as a competitor. It seemed to me his ego was bruised a little.”
The former batsman also lauded Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, saying their defensive play is a huge bonus for the tourists against England in the ongoing five-match Test series.
He signed off by saying, “Rohit Sharma and K L Rahul, who both play all white-ball cricket there is, showed brilliant defensive play, the absolute opposite of T20 batting--a still bat in defence, leaving balls outside off and spending hours at the crease at a strike rate of 20....India have found in Rohit and Rahul two unexpectedly huge bonuses. England haven’t found any yet.”
