"That was a sort of - trying for him to have a taste of his own medicine type of thing" - James Anderson critical of Joe Root for taking him off when Jasprit Bumrah came to bat
James Anderson has slated Joe Root’s ploy to attack Jasprit Bumrah with short balls when he came into bat on the final day of the second Test at Lord’s.
Jasprit Bumrah released a barrage of short-stuff against James Anderson during Day 3 of the Test. The spell had led to multiple bouts of verbal altercations on the field between the players.
The England pacer reckons Joe Root might have been trying to get back at Bumrah by removing him from the spell and bringing on Mark Wood.
“When Joe touched on getting a few things wrong, I think, potentially, when Bumrah came in, he brought Mark Wood on and took me off. That’s the sort of thing he is talking about getting the emotion get the better of him. That was a sort of - trying for him to have a taste of his own medicine type of thing, rather than trying to get him out. You could just keep me on and normally see if he plays any big shot or anything like that, whereas he went with Mark Wood straightaway,” James Anderson spoke on the Tailenders podcast.
The move clearly did not work, as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami went on to stitch an unbeaten stand of 89 runs, eventually taking India to a winning position.
However, Anderson doesn’t believe that the England pacers bowled badly on the final day. He felt that everything went India’s way and the whole story could have been different if a chance went to a fielder’s hand.
“I thought they had a day as well. Chances just dropping either side of the fielders, dropping short, play and misses. On another day, one goes to hand and it’s a different story. But, all in all, it seemed that everything was against us that morning.”
“They use emotion differently to how we use it” – James Anderson lauds India’s usage of aggression on the field
James Anderson lauded India as a passionate side that channels their energy in the right way. He commended the way India batted and bowled on the final day to complete a victory that looked improbable at the start of the day.
“India are a passionate side. They use emotion differently from how we use it. They channel it well. We saw that on the last day. So I think that’s something we have got to think about going into the last three games.”
England have a difficult task at hand as they come into the third Test at Headingley. They trail the series 0-1. England's pace attack, which was already depleted with injuries to Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes, has suffered yet another setback after Mark Wood sustained a shoulder injury during the Lord's Test. England’s fortunes will depend heavily on James Anderson in the third Test.