David Gower blames Joe Root for 'emotional tactics' during Lord's Test

When arguably the most stylish left-hander to have graced the game, David Gower says that the world has gone mad after the partnership between Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah in the Lord’s Test, most of us are bound to feel the same way. The reaction of Gower was abridging of every single person who had watched the final day’s play of the Lord’s Test. 

“The world has gone mad. The world has gone completely mad when you’ve got Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah sharing a partnership of 89 on the fifth morning. No one, not even their parents, or their close family, would have predicted that one,” Gower said. 

When the final day started, England was on the cusp of a victory with India just leading by 154 runs with just Rishabh Pant and the bowlers to follow. When they got Pant early in the day, things looked quite gloomy for India until a bizarre tactical move by Joe Root turned the game on its head. 

When Jasprit Bumrah came out to the crease, the English bowlers allowed their emotions to take control as they kept firing a barrage of short deliveries at Bumrah reminding him of the similar medicine which he had given to James Anderson at the fag end of Day 2. 

“How often do we say to people in one-day cricket, when the ball is flying everywhere, ‘how bout the yorker?’ How often when the yorker works, do we see the stumps rearranged. That’s the sort of delivery I think should be bowled in these circumstances more often. Aim at the stumps, full and straight, if you get it right, the tail-enders sometimes struggle with that,” Gower said.

After getting hit on the head twice and dealing with the verbal volleys, both Shami and Bumrah became resilient and started to defy the English attack with their sensible style of play. With most of the fielders being pushed as boundaries riders, singles became as easy to get as getting newspapers by a roadside stall. 

Both Bumrah and Shami cashed in and started piling on the agony on the English bowlers. Their unbeaten partnership of 89 runs made sure that only two results were possible in the match, an Indian win or a draw. Taking nothing away from the efforts of the two tail-enders, Gower blamed Root for the ‘emotional tactics’ which eventually played into the hands of both Bumrah and Shami. 

“What was interesting about the final hour was that the passion and emotions got too much for England. Yes they’d been stirred up with the Bumrah and Anderson stuff, but it’s amazing how when your emotions take control, your carefully laid plans could become mislaid plans. Every Root had to admit that he got his tactics wrong,” Gower said speaking exclusively to Cricket.com, reviewing the Lord’s Test.

“Captaincy is one of those things where sometimes you think you’re getting a hang of it. But then you have days like the final morning, and you realize that you’re still learning. In truth, you’re always learning - every day you’re captain of any national team."

“But this is not the first time he’s been in such a situation. Those are the situations that can make or break a game. As we can now see very very vividly. That’s where a captain has to be able to say to himself and his players, ‘Look, this is our plan. Let’s not lose control.’ and that’s what I’m sure he regrets most,” Gower said.