We lose together, we win together: coach Gambhir backs his players

A trailer of life without Jasprit Bumrah in England was playing on loop at Leeds on Tuesday.

- Somshuvra Laha

KOLKATA: And it wasn't pretty. Watching Mohammed Siraj throw a fit when the England openers tried to slow down the game to avoid playing another Bumrah over before lunch wasn't prime time television but he can't be faulted for not trying. For the entire morning session Prasidh Krishna struggled to hit the right length. When he did, he couldn't repeat it three balls in a row. And the second ball Shardul Thakur bowled on the day helped Ben Duckett tickle off his leg probably the easiest boundary of his life.

This was no consolidated bowling effort led by an extraordinary fast bowler, but a disjointed attempt at stopping England. Bumrah experienced a rare day when his talent finally met the kind of grit and pluck that could outsmart it. But the rest? In a match where England averaged 4.35 runs per over, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur averaged 6.28 and 5.56 respectively. The tactic too was questionable at times. India's bowling was too reliant on Bumrah and Siraj in the first session, and then as if to prove a point it wasn't, Siraj wasn't bowled from the 42nd over till the new ball was taken.