India defeated England by 151 runs in the second Test match of the series. With a memorable win at Lord’s Virat Kohli and company lead the five-match series 1-0. While, the visitors dominated several sessions throughout the match, putting top-class cricket to display, England’s loss is also a product of some tactical decisions the team made. 

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The English skipper, in the post-match presentation, admitted that it was his tactical calls that cost England a golden chance to take a lead in the Test series. England were in a strong position at the start of Day 5, but then Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah’s 89-run partnership took away their momentum and everything went south for the hosts.

“Tactically I don’t think I dealt with that well enough as captain, and off the back of it it put us in a difficult position. It’s just disappointing we didn’t manage to close out that innings how we could have,” Root said. 

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Let’s look at the decisions that may have costed England the match:

1) Tit for Tat: 

England’s strategy of responding to Jasprit Bumrah’s barrage of bouncers with some snorters only triggered the Indian player to go on and score his best-ever Test score. 

Skipper Joe Root’s field setting for Bumrah and Shami didn’t seem like the one for tail-enders. With four players at the boundary, Root had a defensive field, allowing the two batsmen to rotate strike easily. 

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2) Day 4, decision to call stumps:

When Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma demanded to end the play on Day 4, calling bad light, Root could have objected. But the English skipper gave in. Ishant Sharma and Rishabh Pant were on strike and Moeen Ali was turning the ball sharply. Completion of the day’s play could have cost the visitors a wicket or even two. 

Day 3, exposing Anderson:

When James Anderson faced the snorters from Bumrah, got hit on the head, shoulders and ribs, he had to through a concussion check. He was uncomfortable. As a full-time batsman Root should have kept his premier pacer away from the strike but he took a run exposing Anderson. The tail-ender was dismissed in the over, restricting the lead to 27 runs. Had Root, playing at 180, kept the strike, the lead could have been extended.