India vs England | We failed to execute plans against tailenders, reveals Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah has admitted that the Indian bowling department failed to carry out pre-planned strategies against the lower-order of English batsman in the fifth Test at the Oval. A brilliant 89 from Jos Buttler and timely 38 from Stuart Broad gave England a 332-run lead in the first innings.
Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah was called up to the matchday squad for the third match at Nottingham after he had to miss out the first two matches as he was still under rehab for a finger injury sustained during the T20I series against Ireland. It paid off instantly as he took a fifer in the second innings at Nottingham and also helped India win the third Test by a good margin.
However, a loss in the next match at Southampton meant that the visitors were beaten in the 10th consecutive Test series on English soil. But Bumrah displayed great character in the fifth and final Test at the Oval, as he bagged three wickets in the first innings itself.
It was not enough though as some brilliant batting from the tailenders - Jos Buttler and Stuart Broad meant that England managed a lead of 332 in the first innings. And Bumrah admitted that the bowlers failed to do their job and execute their plans on the field against the lower-order batsmen.
“We were in a good position at 190-odd for seven, but they batted well and we couldn’t capitalize. So it is a combination of both. We tried hard to bowl in the right areas but we couldn’t bowl that well today and they also applied well. There has been no specific planning for lower order batsmen. You plan for each batsman, even if they are lower-order, we respect them. We tried to execute plans today but it didn’t work,” Bumrah told PTI.
Buttler, specifically, was brilliant for the hosts and put up some important partnerships with Adil Rashid and Broad to keep England in the hunt for the big score at the Oval. Bumrah said that the RR batsman took his chances and it paid off.
“Just because Buttler scored runs, doesn’t mean we found it difficult to bowl against him. As a bowling unit, we never say if we get him early that we found it easy. He played well today and was taking his chances. When you are batting with the tail, you can take your chances, take your freedom and our batsmen have done that as well before in the first Test when Virat (Kohli) was playing with the tail.
“So you have a lot of freedom and you can express yourself – you have nothing to lose. Nobody would say anything if you get out, so a batsman has