Having set a pursuit record of 368 to win, England reached 100 unbeaten on the fifth morning, but suffered a dramatic slip after lunch, losing 4 for 6 within six overs with Bumrah at the helm. Thoughts about a historic fourth-entry search quickly evaporated, and Root’s dismissal by 36 shortly before tea, however, extinguished England’s chances of seeing the day of the draw.
Root gave credit to India, calling Bumrah’s spell a “turning point,” but hurried to look elsewhere for the reasons for the 157 defeat. On the first day, after throwing in India in 191, which represented a recovery of 127 per set, England achieved a 99-run lead in the first inning; but none of his middle orders were able to fully capitalize on the good positions, with Ollie Pope making 81, and Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali 37 and 35 respectively.
“It’s frustrating not being able to get anything from the match today, we showed up this morning and felt we had a chance to win the test,” Root told Sky Sports. “The opening partnership was excellent, but India’s credit got the ball invested and made good use of it, it was a brilliant Bumrah bowling period and that was the point of ‘inflection.
“Beyond my point of view, we would look at other areas of the test where we could have missed opportunities, we could have been a little better, we could have taken more advantage of this first entry. And obviously on the field, too, no matter how difficult were some of these possibilities, you have to face them world-class players.
“Whenever you lose the game, you can look at the draw. More than anything, look at what advantage we had and what we could have potentially had. That’s what we need to be a little more ruthless about there. I have to get a 200-race lead in instead of 100 advantages, especially because of the way the surface played.These are these great associations, we had a good number of starts, guys who came in and failed to continue, in this we have to be clinical and not please “.
England head coach Chris Silverwood echoed the issue, saying he would have liked to “go beyond” India in the first inning.
“If we’re real, I wish I had gone beyond them at the time, it will be an opportunity to really put pressure on the Indians,” he said. “We couldn’t do it, so it’s something we’ll reflect on in the locker room and talk about it among ourselves. It would have been great to pass them maybe 190 and pass the pressure on them, but again credit to the Indians. Know how to fight.”
“We had to earn the right to put ourselves in a position to dictate terms,” Root said. “It should always have been the case that we needed doors on hand. No doubt we prepared things very well. Going to lunch would have been good to be just a bass. It was more if we got close to the tea where we had doors to hand, we could definitely have sought to put our foot in the gas and put pressure on India.
“You know when there are gates in hand you always feel like you can score quickly. India probably should have been a little more defensive with some of their fields and they would have had that in the back of their minds that we could chase. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take advantage. enough and that was a wonderful bowling spell that really turned the game around. “
It was Bumrah’s 2-for-6 six-goal spell right after lunch that brought down England’s fill. With the old ball flipping, he threw a ball to Pope for 2 and then scoured Bairstow with a vicious yorker who set out to find a duck. Both sides of these dismissals, Ravindra Jadeja removed Hameed and Moeen as India seized.
“I think you always have to look for ways to improve and manage different periods of play, absolutely,” Root said. “But at the same time, you have to be realistic and understand that it was a world-class bowling alley. [Bumrah] he saw an opportunity within the game and performed very well. Sometimes, you have to find a way to manage during this period. It’s something we will see, there is a possibility that there will be a reverse change at Old Trafford, we need to manage it better if we find ourselves in a similar situation. “
Another aspect that worried him was the capture of England, with six chances pouring in throughout the game, including India’s second-inning centurion Rohit Sharma, whom Burns lost twice, despite that one was a hard diving effort that did well to help him.
“There were some very difficult occasions, a lot of players didn’t even get to the one Burnsy went to, the fact that he covered so much ground is a big effort. It’s a difficult terrain to visualize sometimes here, but we have of Keep looking to improve, looking to take risks Not for lack of effort, not for working in practice or for how we prepare for the games, we just have to keep putting you in those positions and be brave enough to take on . “
With the third of the back-to-back tests set to start on Friday at Old Trafford, and his new pair of balls from James Anderson and Ollie Robinson having swept more than 160 overs in the series so far, England may have to look to do changes to the attack. Craig Overton also suffered a painful blow to his right elbow when he was sacked by Umesh Yadav, while Saqib Mahmood, who was part of the squad before being released to play for Lancashire, reportedly suffered lateral strain, although there were best news about Mark Wood’s fitness, after injuring his shoulder in Lord’s camp.
“Woody is fine, that’s promising,” Root said. “It’s been a frustrating summer in terms of how many injuries we’ve had to fight. It’s not an excuse, it’s something that has been difficult to manage. But the guys who have had the opportunity to play and the way what they’ve released in the series, they’ve been great. It’s going to be a big boost for the guys coming out to play next week at Old Trafford. “
On whether Anderson could be fit enough to make his seventh appearance in the summer in the test, something he hasn’t achieved since 2018, Root added, “I think you have to weigh everything, you have to have it all in be careful, make sure that you are physically in the right place to be able to play a test match and also make sure that you can overcome it, because at the same time, even with your quality if you fall injured, it leaves us very difficult place, not only for the rest of the game, but also for the winter.
“So we have to be smart about it, we have to make sure we make the right calls. Ultimately, we have to try to find a way to win as well, so it’s a delicate balance, that we’re going to try. make sure we get it right “.
England now face the need to beat Old Trafford to avoid losing the two local series this summer. “You never want to miss any series of tests, so it will be very important that we bounce back very quickly like we did a week ago. [at Headingley] and did a similar kind of performance at Old Trafford, ”Root said.