England captain Joe Root was highly frustrated after the hosts lost the fourth Test by 157 runs at The Oval to slip 1-2 behind in the ongoing five-match Test series against India on Monday, September 6.
As England was bowled out for just 210 runs on day five while chasing 368 runs, Root was disappointed that the hosts lost 10 wickets on Monday, as well as, rued some dropped catches and the fact that England could not take a big first-innings lead after dismissing India for a paltry 191 in their first innings.
However, Root vowed to make a strong comeback in the fifth and final Test at Old Trafford, starting on September 10 but asked his team to be more ruthless in order to get a result in their favor.
Chasing a stiff 368-run target against Team India, England gave themselves the best chance with an excellent 100-run opening stand between Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns, but on the final day, the hosts suddenly lost the plot on Monday.
England batters were under pressure on day five, thanks to high-class bowling from Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, as the hosts lost six wickets in between lunch and tea and eventually suffered a massive defeat of 157 runs against the Indian team in the fourth Test at the Oval on Monday.
Root said in the post-match media interaction: “We should have got a bigger lead the first time around with the bat. It would have been nice to have another 100 runs actually, and then we're looking at a very different, very different game. It's been frustrating today to lose 10 wickets. But actually where the game is lost, where we could have really stamped authority on things was earlier in the game.”
He also mentioned that some dropped catches including the second-innings centurion Rohit Sharma at slip by Rory Burns made the difference in the fourth Test against India.
The skipper continued, “We got to be a little bit more ruthless there, the first innings runs really cost us, as well as catching. We did put down a few chances, some of them were extremely difficult. And that has to be said but at the same time, you give chances and half chances to world-class players. They take them, and we've seen that throughout this game.”
On England’s collapse from 141/2 to 210 all out, Root said: “It's disappointing and frustrating, especially with the opportunity to go with a Test match to be bowled out is hard to take. But also you've got to look at how we responded from the Lord's and the performance we put in at Headingley.”
He added, “We've got a look to do exactly the same when we go to the Old Trafford. We are very confident as we've just recently shown we can we're more than capable of turning things around very quickly. We're going to make sure that we get ourselves in a frame of mind over the next couple of days to do just that. There is every confidence that we can go to Old Trafford and get a win.”
On being asked if he would look at rotation to especially managing the workload of James Anderson, Root said: “We'll have to look at things, we'll see how everyone pulls up the next couple of days and we'll be trying to make smart decisions around that.”
He concluded, “It's been frustrating in terms of having abundant resources to contend with a lot of injuries. So now I have to try and manage that, as well as we can, and make sure that we've got an attack that can take 20 wickets. It's a delicate balancing act, one that we will try and make sure we get right.”
(With PTI Inputs)
