England skipper Joe Root shouldered responsibility
for the loss against India in the second Test at Lord’s, saying his tactics and
underestimation of the Indian tail led to his side losing control of a match
they were on top of.

India went into Day 5 leading by just 154
runs, with only the tail-enders left to bat along with wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh
Pant. And the hosts started the day strongly, dismissing both Pant and Ishant
Sharma in quick succession in the first session.

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However, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah
went on to forge a an 85-run partnership for the 9th wicket, a record
for India in England, as India set the hosts a target of 272 runs to win with
little under two sessions left.

This was followed by a brilliant display by
the four-pronged Indian pace attack, which bundled England out for 120,
scripting a famous, 151-run win at the Home of Cricket.

Mohammed Siraj did most of the damage, picking
up four wickets for 32 runs, while Bumrah scalped three wickets, with Ishant
Shamra taking two wickets. Shami, who scored an unbeaten 56 from 70 deliveries,
ended with one scalp.

“I think a lot falls on my shoulders as
captain. Tactically I could have done things slightly differently,” PTI quoted Root saying at
a virtual post-match press conference. “It (Shami-Bumrah partnership) was the
pivotal moment of the game, without question, and I don’t think I dealt with
that well enough tactically. It put us in a difficult position.”

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“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 defence can be so as I said a lot falls
on my shoulders,” Root said.

He also admitted that the tactic to use the
short deliveries against Bumrah and Shami, while opening up the field, did not
work. “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 short ball as more of a surprise.”

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“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.”

Root also downplayed the flare-ups between
the two sides on the field, saying he doesn’t think there is any “nastiness or
hatred” between anyone.

Root also admitted his side needs to bat
better in future games. Apart from him, only Jos Buttler (25) and Moeen Ali
(13) were able to get to double figures in the match, with top three batsmen Rory
Burns, Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed recording scores of 0, 0 and 9 in the
second innings.

“I expected us to bat out so it’s
disappointing we didn’t manage to. We need to score heavier. The guys will know
that. Credit to India but I don’t think there is any hiding from the fact we
need to get better,” Root said.