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After breaking a record 368 to win, England reached 100 unbeaten on the fifth morning but suffered a dramatic drop after lunch, losing 4 for 6 in six overs with Bumrah in the foreground. Thoughts of a historic fourth-inning pursuit quickly evaporated, and Root’s sacking for 36 shortly before tea virtually extinguished England’s chances of seeing the light of day for a draw.
Root gave India credit, calling Bumrah’s plight a “turning point”, but was quick to look elsewhere for the reasons for the 157-point loss. After knocking out India for 191 on day one – which in itself was sort of a 127-for-7 recovery – England took a 99-point lead in the opening sets; but none of their mid-order was able to fully capitalize on good positions, with Ollie Pope making 81, and Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali 37 and 35 respectively.
“It’s frustrating not being able to get something out of the game today, we came in this morning and really felt we had a chance to win the test,” Root told Sky Sports. “The opening partnership was exceptional, but thanks to India they spilled the ball and put it to good use, it was a brilliant bowling spell from Bumrah and it really was the turning point.
“For my part, we would look at other areas of the test where we might have missed opportunities, could have been a little better, could have taken more advantage of that lead in the first set. And obviously in the field, just as difficult. whatever some of those odds are, you have to face them against world class players.
“Anytime you lose the game you can watch the draw. More than anything you look at how much lead we had and what we could potentially have had. That’s the thing, we have to be a little more ruthless there. down, we ‘We have to make it a 200 point lead instead of a 100 point lead, especially the way the surface was playing. These are those big partnerships, we’ve had a number of good ones. departures, guys coming in and failing to keep going, that’s something we have to be clinical in, not get complacent. “
England head coach Chris Silverwood echoed the point, saying he would have liked to ‘overtake’ India in the opening rounds.
“If we are being honest I would have liked to have passed them at this point, it will be an opportunity to really put pressure on the Indians,” he said. “We didn’t manage to do that, so it’s something we will reflect on in the locker room and talk to each other. It would have been great to get past maybe 190 and really put the pressure on, but once again, thanks to the Indians, they know how to fight back. “
“We had to earn the right to put ourselves in a position to dictate the terms,” Root said. “We would still need to have counters on hand. We certainly arranged things well. Before lunch it would have been nice to have only one downstairs. It was more if we got into one. position near tea where we had wickets in hand, we certainly could have sought to put our foot on the gas and put pressure on India.
“You know when there are wickets in hand you always feel like you can score quickly. India probably should have been a little more defensive with some of their fields and they would have had in mind that we could chase Unfortunately we couldn’t get far enough and it was a wonderful bowling spell that really transformed the game. “
It was Bumrah’s 2-for-6 six-overs’ spell right after lunch that brought down the England farce. With the old ball reversed, he bowled Pope for 2, then Yorked Bairstow with a vicious Yorker for a duck. On either side of the layoffs, Ravindra Jadeja pulled out Hameed and Moeen as India gained the upper hand.
“I think you always have to look for ways to improve yourself and deal with different periods of play, absolutely,” said Root. “But at the same time, you have to be realistic and understand that this was world class bowling. [Bumrah] saw an opportunity in the game and behaved extremely well. Sometimes you have to find a way to deal with this period. This is something that we are going to look at, there is a chance that there will be a turnaround at Old Trafford, we have to deal with it better if we run into a similar situation. “
Another worrying aspect was the capture of England, with six missed opportunities throughout the game – including second-round Indian centurion Rohit Sharma, who Burns missed twice, although one was an effort difficult dive that he did well to get his hands on.
“There were some really tough chances, a lot of players might not even get to the one Burnsy went to, the fact that he covered so much ground is a great effort. It is sometimes a tough field of vision here, but we have to keep looking to improve, looking to seize those chances. It’s not for lack of effort, or work in training or the way we prepare for games, we just have to keep going to put yourself in those positions and be brave enough to take them over. “
With the third of consecutive testing kicking off at Old Trafford on Friday, and their new pair of balls from James Anderson and Ollie Robinson having played over 160 overs in the series so far, England may have to consider making changes. to attack. Craig Overton also suffered a painful blow to his right elbow when he was sacked by Umesh Yadav, while Saqib Mahmood, who was part of the squad before being released to play for Lancashire, reportedly suffered lateral strain – although there has been better news on Mark Wood’s fitness, having suffered a shoulder injury on the court at Lord’s.
“Woody is coming on well, that’s promising,” Root said. “It’s been a frustrating summer in terms of how many injuries we’ve had to deal with, it’s not an excuse but something that’s been hard to deal with. But the guys who got to play and the the way they got into the show, they’ve been great, that’s gonna be a big boost for the guys who are going to play next week at old trafford.
On whether Anderson might be fit enough to make his seventh summer test appearance – something he hasn’t done since 2018 – Root added: “I think you have to weigh everything – you have to take everything into account, make sure that physically he is in the right place to be able to play a test match. And also that he makes sure that he can do it, because at the same time, even with his quality if he falls injured, that leaves us in a very difficult place, not only for the rest of the game, but also for the winter.
“So we have to be smart about it, we have to make sure we make the right choices. At the end of the day, we also have to try to find a way to win, so it’s a delicate balance, one that we’re going to try and make sure you’re right. “
England now need to win at Old Trafford to avoid losing both sets at home this summer. “You never want to lose a test run, so it will be very important that we bounce back really quickly like we did a week ago. [at Headingley] and did a kind of performance similar to Old Trafford, ”Root said.
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