India Batters Receive Brutal Verdict After Lord's Test Loss Against England: 'Can't Complain...'
Former Indian cricket team skipper Mohammad Azharuddin took aim at the top-order batters following the defeat in the third Test encounter against England at Lord's.
- Mohammad Azharuddin criticised India's top-order batting after the Lord's Test defeat against England
- Ravindra Jadeja and tail-enders showed resilience with important partnerships, according to Azharuddin
- "We cannot complain about his batting. The way he batted, stood there like a rock": Azharuddin on Jadeja
Former Indian cricket team skipper Mohammad Azharuddin took aim at the top-order batters following the defeat in the third Test encounter against England at Lord's. Chasing a target of 193, India failed to stitch together significant partnerships at the top of the batting order and despite some good performances from the lower middle order, the visitors ended up losing the encounter. With the exception of KL Rahul, stars like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Karun Nair failed to protect their wickets and provide India with a good chase. Azharuddin stated that India did not bat well at all and the lack of partnerships became a major problem for them - something that even Gill pointed out after the game.
"I don't think we batted well. Don't think we batted positively in the second innings. If you see, we lost 4 wickets at the end of the day. And then coming into the fifth day, it was always going to be tough, not easy. We needed some good partnerships, as they always say. You can always say anybody can be wise after the event," Azharuddin told PTI.
Azharuddin, however, praised Ravindra Jadeja and the tail-enders for putting up a fight during the Lord's Test. While Jadeja slammed a gritty half-century, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj both stitched together partnerships with Jadeja to take India close to the target.
“I must admit and congratulate the tailenders for really putting up that brave front. Ravindra Jadeja really batted well. But I thought that maybe when Root and Bashir were bowling, he could have gone after them in those 4-5 overs. If he had gotten another 15-20 runs, the job would have been much easier. We cannot complain about his batting. The way he batted, stood there like a rock and at the end of the day, the result wasn't much forthcoming for the Indian team. We faltered in the second innings. Rahul batted well too. But at some point, we allowed good bowlers to dominate,” he added.
KL Rahul
Ravindra Jadeja
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team