‘For 60 Overs They Should Feel Hell Out There’: Virat Kohli's Strategy Behind India's Triumph at Lord’s in 2021

(The Indian team celebrates after picking the wickets of Ollie Robinson in the match)

Test Cricket has always been a format where the Indian team has constantly struggled to win the matches in overseas conditions. Be it England, Australia, South Africa or New Zealand, things have been tough for the Indian team whenever they have toured these nations. But with the arrival of Virat Kohli as a test captain changed everything for this team as he brought a fearless approach to the Indian team by making sure that the batters always took the winning route while the bowlers have the capability to take 20 wickets in a match. One such instance came in 2021 when India toured England for a 5 match test series and it was a match at the Lord’s Cricket Ground where the team won the match and it’s a story of how these 11 men scripted history there.

England vs India, 2nd Test at London

The 5-match Test series between India and England took place in England after the second wave of Covid-19 was over and the players were in the bio-bubbles to be safe from the virus. The first match of the series took place at Trent Bridge, Nottingham where the Indian team was looking set for a victory on the last day of the match but rain spoiled their plans and hence it was 0-0 by the end of the first match. Now, both the teams moved to London where the second match of the series was scheduled at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

With the pitch being a bit green and the conditions being overcast, it was the Indian team that got to bat first with the toss in England’s favour. However, the Indian team started well with their first innings as both the openers, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul managed to notch up fifty-plus scores and got a partnership of 126 runs on the board. However, a peach delivery from James Anderson saw the end of Rohit Sharma who was bowled out for 83 runs in 145 balls and hence it brought down the first wicket of the Indian team in the match.

(KL Rahul scored 129 runs in the first innings of the match against England)

After the wicket of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul was joined by Cheteshwar Pujara but this partnership was a short one as Pujara departed after scoring just 9 runs for the team. After this, Virat Kohli joined KL Rahul in the middle and both of them got a partnership of 117 runs and KL Rahul even completed his century of just 212 balls including 9 fours and a six. However, the quick wickets of KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane took the team to back foot. At the end of the innings, India was all-out for 364 runs as the lower order of the team saw a short partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant.

Amongst the England bowlers, James Anderson was the star as he picked up 5 wickets in his 29 overs and gave away just 62 runs in the process. With a good lead in the first innings, the Indian started well in the bowling department too as with just 23 runs on the board, England lost Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed in two successive balls to bring the team down. But, the partnership between Rory Burns and Joe Root ensured that the team was doing well and now they were 108-3 after losing the wickets of Rory Burns.

(Joe Root scored a fighting hundred against India at the Lords)

A partnership between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow finally stabilised the innings for the England team and in the process, Bairstow completed his half-century while on the other hand, Joe Root scored an amazing hundred for the team. Both the players continued to do well but the quick wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, and Jos Buttler saw the England team in a bit of trouble. However, Joe Root continued to score and he made some epic partnerships with the lower-order batters to take the team to a good score and eventually got the lead against India in the first innings.

Bumrah vs Anderson: The instance that heated up the match

When England was 371-9, the set batter Joe Root was joined by James Anderson in the middle for a last-wicket partnership. At this time, Virat Kohli brought Jasprit Bumrah for an over where James Anderson had to face him from the first ball of the over and everyone was expecting yorkers from Jasprit Bumrah to get the last wicket done. However, when Bumrah started his over, it was the complete opposite of it as he got a bouncer barrage on the number 11 batsman.

(Jasprit Bumrah bowled a 10-ball over to James Anderson at the Lords)

Bumrah bowled a 10-ball over in which there were 4 no-balls all of them being bouncers, James Anderson got body blows and everyone in the crowd was amazed to see that. Even for a proper batter, facing Bumrah has been a nightmare and here he was bowling bouncers to someone who is a tail-ender. The crowd felt it was a disrespect to James Anderson and there was a heated exchange between Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, and James Anderson. Moreover, it was reported that Virat Kohli and Joe Root were also involved in verbal wars while going back to the dressing room. Finally, England was bowled out for 391 runs and got a lead of 27 runs in the match.

2nd Innings of the Lord’s Test Match

With all the things heated up in the match, the fans were always in for some exciting cricket for the next 2 days and it all started with the Indian innings when KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma failed to make an impact at the top and hence the team was 27-2 in the first 12 overs itself. After this, the Indian team lost Virat Kohli and with 55-3, things were hardly looking good for the Indian team. But a 100-run partnership between Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane uplifted the team to take them to 155-4 in 73 overs. Now, the team lost another quick wickets of both the set batters along with Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant with just 209 runs on the board and 2 wickets left.

(Jasprit Bumrah and Jos Buttler engaged in a heated exchange of words)

This is where Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami came to the rescue of the Indian team as they had just 182 runs lead with them and needed someone to get them to at least 250 runs. However, as soon as the England team saw Jasprit Bumrah, they took it as a chance of revenge and brought back Mark Wood to treat the pacer with a bouncer barrage. Moreover, things got heated up again when Mark Wood said something to Bumrah and he had a verbal exchange with the umpire and England’s wicket-keeper Jos Buttler.

But in this process, the England team failed to make an impact on the ground and the batters of the Indian team benefited from it as they started getting the boundaries easily. Mohammed Shami registered a half-century while Jasprit Bumrah scored a vital 34 runs to get a partnership of 89 runs for the team. With the help of these runs, India declared the innings at 298/8 with a target of 271 runs on the board for the English team on the last day of the Test match.

Virat Kohli motivating the team before England’s batting

With the declaration done, Virat Kohli as a captain took an amazing step when the entire team came down to the Lord’s Ground Floor and appreciated both Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah for their valiant effort and showed that this Indian team is here to fight. Before the start of England’s batting, the Indian team was in a huddle where Virat Kohli was motivating the whole team and was seen saying“Agar koi mujhe hasta hua dikha na to samajh lena! For 60 overs they should feel hell out there”.

https://youtu.be/uWYn29xVbKE?si=oTArVGEkxyjNBUbu

And the Indian team started with that aggression and energy only as in the first over itself, they got the wicket of Rory Burns while in the second over, Mohammed Shami dismissed Dom Sibley which meant that both the openers were out on a duck and the score was 2-1 in the first 2 overs itself. After this, Joe Root and Haseeb Hameed tried to make things easy for the England team but Ishant Sharma got the third wicket as Hameed was caught LBW and England’s score was now 44-3 in just 16 overs.

With this, the Indian team again got the breakthrough in the 22nd over when Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root departed in consecutive overs and hence it looked all over for the England team out there. Besides this, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran also lost their wickets with the team’s score being 90-7 in 39 overs and now the Indian team needed 3 more wickets from the 21 overs left in the game.

(Jasprit Bumrah celebrated after picking the wicket of Joe Root in the Test Match)

But despite picking up 7 wickets for just 90 runs, India was still in need to pick those 3 wickets early because of the conditions being unfavourable to extend the match and Jos Buttler along with Ollie Robinson were making it difficult for the Indian team here. This is when Virat Kohli gave the ball to Jasprit Bumrah and he bowled a slower ball to trap Ollie Robinson LBW and hence India got the breakthrough in the 51st over of the game. After that, it was Mohammed Siraj who came up and got the wicket of Jos Buttler who got the England team 9 down with just 120 runs on the board.

For the last wicket, James Anderson was at the crease who blocked the first two balls of the bowler and it looked like the Indian team will again need some magic from their fast bowlers. Mohammed Siraj bowled a perfect delivery from round the wicket to clean up James Anderson and India finally sealed the victory by 151 runs and got the England team all out in just 52 overs which was a dream test match for every Indian fan and the players.

(Indian players celebrate after taking the last wicket of the England team at Lords)

As the match ended, the whole Indian team celebrated and it was Virat Kohli who went on a run to celebrate the team’s victory aggressively and passionately. The fans and the whole group celebrated well as the Indian team now had a 1-0 lead in the series and under Virat Kohli, the team was looking all set to handle things well against England. In the post-match presentation, Virat Kohli said

“Super proud of the whole team, the way we stuck to our plans, being put in our performance with the bat was outstanding. Pitch didn't offer much in the first three days. But the way we played in the second innings, under pressure, from Jasprit and Shami was outstanding. We thought with 60 overs to go we could have a crack, and they were outstanding. A bit of tension on the field really motivated us to finish the game. [Clapping Shami and Bumrah off] Wanted to let them know that we appreciated what they did, and they took the new ball and made breakthroughs for us.”

“When we were most successful, our lower order was contributing, we went away from that a bit away from home but they are putting in the hard work with the coaches. The belief and the desire is there, to do the job for the team. [Lord's victories] Last time was special, Ishant bowled outstandingly. But this one, to get a result in 60 overs, is quite special. With someone like Siraj playing at Lord's for the first time and bowling as he did was outstanding.“

“We decided 60 was our mark, crucial breakthroughs were great for us and we carried on from there. Second half of the day, we thought we were on top and our fans got behind us. We feed off the energy of the crowd as well. [Independence Day win] The best gift we can give to India, but we have three more Test matches and we can't sit on our laurels. [Robinson review] That one was gut feel but I like to go with my instinct.”

England vs India, 2nd Test at London
India	England
364 (126.1 overs)	391 (128 overs)
KL Rahul 129 (250)	Joe Root 180* (321)
James Anderson 5/62 (29 overs)	Mohammed Siraj 4/94 (30 overs)
298/8d (109.3 overs)	120 (51.5 overs)
Ajinkya Rahane 61 (146)	Joe Root 33 (60)
Mark Wood 3/51 (18 overs)	Mohammed Siraj 4/32 (10.5 overs)
India won by 151 runs

The series between India and England finally ended as 2-2 with the Indian team winning the 2nd and 4th match of the series while the England team managed to win the 3rd and 5th match of the series. Both the teams managed to play an amazing brand of cricket and hence it was an amazing series that made the Test Format a better one for the viewers.