LONDON, Aug 17: Geoffrey Boycott feels England were “stupid” with their tactics in the second Test against India and also allowed emotions to get the better of them.
England, who started day five of the Lord’s Test in a strong position, eventually lost the game by 151 runs to a “brilliant” India.
Words were exchanged regularly between the players but India fed off the intense atmosphere to lift their game while the hosts got sidetracked.
“This Test match has proved two things. Firstly, if you are stupid you do not deserve to win Test matches. As much as we love Joe Root for his magnificent batting, he cocked up with his tactics.
“Secondly, England cannot keep relying on Joe for all their runs. There has to be an improvement from the top three very soon because it is getting beyond a joke,” Boycott, a former England captain, wrote in The Telegraph.
England spread the field out when Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami were batting, and the two pacers ended up sharing a record 89-run stand for India to set England a 272-run target. The hosts were bowled out for 120 with less than 10 overs remaining in the game.
“Joe had been doing well with his field placings and captaincy but seeing Jasprit Bumrah at the crease was like a red rag to a bull.
“He encouraged Mark Wood to just pepper him with fast short balls. It is obvious the England captain and some of his players wanted payback for the working over Bumrah gave James Anderson in the first innings.
“Tempers were frayed. Heated words were exchanged as England seemed more intent on hitting Bumrah and Mohammad Shami instead of getting them out.
“The tail swiped and edged. The field spread out on both sides of the wickets to stop the run scoring and England suffered the embarrassment of India declaring.”
Boycott also gave India due credit for pulling off a famous win.
“At the start of play, England were favourites and I couldn’t believe England would be so poor but congratulations India. You were absolutely brilliant.”
Former Australian spin legend Shane Warne was also extremely critical of England’s tactics on the final day of Lord’s Test, saying the bowlers were clueless on how to get tail-enders Shami and Bumrah out.
“They’re (England cricketers) standing there scratching their heads saying, ‘what went wrong?’ and what went wrong was horrific tactics,” Warne said.
“They (England) had five, six, seven fielders on the fence. The bowler is standing at the top of his mark looking around saying, ‘how am I going to get some of these guys out?’
“They got a bit too emotional, a bit too much short stuff and in the end the best team won, and that was India,” said Warne. (Agencies)
