Anderson's refusal to accept Bumrah's apology stirred up India in 2nd Test: R.Sridhar

Update: 2021-08-20 12:29 IST

Anderson's refusal to accept Bumrah's apology stirred up India in 2nd Test: R.Sridhar

England fast bowler James Anderson's refusal to accept Jasprit Bumrah's apology stirred up the Indian team that eventually helped them defeat the hosts in the second Test at Lord's, according to fielding coach R. Sridhar.

On Ravichandran Ashwin's YouTube channel, he and Sridhar discussed what Anderson told Bumrah as the Indian fast bowler targetted the England legend with 90mph deliveries. Anderson was annoyed by the bombardment of bouncers he faced from Bumrah during England's first innings and wanted to give it back to the Indian fast bowler.

"Hey mate! Why are you bowling so fast? Am I doing the same to you? All this while you were bowling in the 80mphs and suddenly on seeing me why are you bowling in the 90mphs?" Anderson told Bumrah during the second Test at Lord's.

Reacting to Anderson's statement, Ashwin said, "That kind of statement coming from Jimmy Anderson was a surprise to me."

"So after the innings, the boys were walking back to the dressing room. Then, Bumrah walked past Jimmy and just patted at him, so as to tell him that it wasn't intentional. We all know Bumrah, he is such a nice guy. So he had gone to talk to him and end the matter, but Jimmy brushed him aside," R Sridhar explained.

"Brushing him aside, he told him, "You bowl only 85MPH to the other batters, you are bowling 90 MPH to me. This is cheating, I won't accept," Anderson added.

"That got the team together. Not that the team wasn't together before. It sparked/ignited a fire in everyone. The effect of that was visible on day 5," explained Sridhar.

"Ravi said, 'If we can give them target or 180, we can get them under pressure'," further revealed Sridhar.

With the 151-run victory in the second Test, India went 1-0 up in the five-match series.

Ahead of the crucial third Test at Headingley, England have recalled Yorkshire batsman Dawid Malan, while Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley have been dropped. Lancashire quick Saqib Mahmood has also been included in the 15-man squad but there is no place for Jack Leach who has been sent back to Somerset to play some cricket after Moeen Ali's return to the side at Lord's. Leach does, however, remain on standby. Mark Wood has also been included in the squad despite injuring his shoulder in the second Test.

Tags:    

Similar News