3rd Test: Attitude of Bumrah and Siraj one to learn for all of Indian cricket, says Karthik

London, July 14 (IANS) Despite the gut-wrenching 22-run defeat to England in the third Test at Lord’s, former wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik believes the gritty attitude showcased by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj serves as a valuable example for the entire cricketing ecosystem in the country.

On the fifth day of the match, Bumrah played 54 balls for five runs while Siraj offered resistance with a 30-ball four while sharing defiant partnerships of 35 and 23 with Ravindra Jadeja, who hit a magnificent 61 – his fourth successive fifty in Tests. But the trio’s efforts went in vain as India ended up on the losing side for the second time in the series and slipped 1-2 behind in the five-match series.

"I really enjoyed Ravindra Jadeja at the end. He was running out of partners, but still had the mental resilience to keep going over and over. The attitude of Bumrah and Siraj is also one to learn from for all of Indian cricket, really. They did not give up; they wanted to make a match out of it. They just kept doing everything to stay in the game," said Karthik on Sky Sports’ broadcast.

He also explained the moments that led to India losing the Lord’s Test, despite winning more sessions than England in the match. “If you're going to judge the match based on what happened today, I think you're looking at it from the wrong side. You've got to look at 376/6 in the first innings to 387 all out. Yet again, a bit of a mini-collapse.”

“The catch that KL Rahul dropped Jamie Smith on five in the first innings. The fact that you've conceded 63 extras across two innings. How much do those things matter to you? Those are the conversations that you need to have. Not the shots that you played today or the way the tail-enders really showed grit and determination.”

“It's across five days. There were moments in the game when you could have definitely gone ahead. India didn't do it, probably for the third time now in this series. But when they've really used their brains and just stuck it out there, like they did in Edgbaston, they found a way to get ahead and dominate a Test match.”

“They've been in very strong positions, but let go. The England team didn't bat well, according to me, in the third innings as well. They could have easily come out here and just batted through, knowing the new ball was the toughest phase to bat, and then through the middle, the softer ball was easier to play. But it wasn't all of that. They didn't have a bit of a plan in the end. It just didn't go India's way.”

Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, further said how India would handle trailing in the series ahead of the fourth game starting on July 23 in Manchester. “For me, this is a tough one to take for India. If we had those pie charts we used to do of who's won sessions, they have won so many amounts of sessions. They have put in such a shift in so many games.”

“Headingly, how many sessions they win there, how much good cricket have they played, and they're 2-1 down. Because of those key moments, because of those little collapses, because of the Rishabh Pant run out, the dropped catches, and things like that, that is a tough loss to take. They need this break, India. If it were another back-to-back, that would be a hard one.”

--IANS

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