Root all talk after Lions get a roasting
CRICKET
JOE Root insists England were not bullied as Indian landed a surprise Lord’s Test win.
The Three Lions looked in prime position to win the second match of the series heading into the final day.
But they got stuck in a war of words with the Indians who smashed their way to victory with some lower-order hitting and quality bowling.
The umpires had to step in as the verbals were turned up to new levels.
Root has come in for stick as Joe Anderson and Co fired in short balls at the India tailenders instead of bowling at the stumps.
The England skipper says his tactics were to blame rather than reacting to the heated words.
Root said: “It’s important for me to look at things logically and not get sucked into a sideshow, look at the cricket and make sure we’re doing everything we can to take those last three wickets if we find ourselves in a similar situation.
Hatred
“I don’t think there’s any real hatred there between anyone out there on the field.
“India as a side grabbed onto something and used that to their advantage on this occasion and as far as I’m concerned I don’t think there’s any nastiness there or hatred there between the two teams.”
India skipper Virat Kohli says England’s verbals only served to fire up his players on the final day.
He added: “I think the bowlers were just outstanding and what happened in our second innings, right at the end with the bowlers, a bit of tension on the field really helped us and really motivated us to finish this game.
“The verbals really charged us up and gave us extra motivation to finish the game off.
“We have three more games to go. We are not going to sit on our laurels after this match and just take it easy. If at all, we going to get more intense.”