India vs England 2nd Test: What led to India's drubbing at Lord's

After Team India lost the Edgbaston Test by only 31 runs, it was expected that Virat Kohli and co would bounce back strongly in the second Test against England at Lord’s cricket ground in London. However, the Indian Cricket Team were far from being up to the task as they were completely outplayed by Joe Root’s boys in every department of the game. India could have taken inspiration from 2014 win at Lord’s when Ishant Sharma took 7 wickets while Ajinkya Rahane scored a century. The Indian batting line up has only looked a shadow of its own self for the second game in a row and the bowlers certainly haven’t lived up to their expectations coming into the Test match. The Indian batting line-up even failed to play 90 overs as they were bundled out for 107 in first innings and 130 in second, giving England a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Here are five reasons which led to India’s drubbing at Lord’s
 

Openers fail to make any impact again

India’s opening partnership was one of the major reasons for defeats in the overseas condition. In Lord’s Test, Virat Kohli picked Cheteshwar Pujara in place of Shikhar Dhawan and K L Rahul become the opening partner of Murali Vijay. But both the players failed to make an impression as Murali Vijay scored a pair while K L Rahul scored 10 and 8 in both the innings. On the other hand, Dhawan started well in both innings of Edgbaston Test, but his tendency to get dismissed while attempting reckless shots may have prompted captain Kohli to take Rahul in over him.

Inability of Indian batsmen to adjust to English conditions

The English conditions were always going to be one of the major challenges for the Indian batsmen coming into the series. Facing the moving ball against top quality seam and swing bowling has always been one of the top-notch concerns of Indian batsmen touring overseas over the years. The Indian batsmen, however, showed real signs of a struggle in both the innings against the likes of Anderson, Broad and Woakes which only reveals their inability to adjust to the conditions on offer. The top order failed miserably in both the innings and the middle order could hardly manage anything substantial enough to even give the visitors any sort of hope in the test match.
 

Dropping Umesh Yadav backfired
 
In conditions which were ripe for seamers, India had two frontline spinners, two frontline pacers and Hardik Pandya. And as they bowled in the first innings, the decision to not have another pacer in the ranks hurt them. India's opening bowlers started off poor, but soon came into their own. The conditions weren't as supportive as England enjoyed the previous day, but they still found enough to trouble Jennings and Cook. By the time the pair was out, to Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma respectively in successive overs, India's main pacers were already towards the end of their spells. The need for a third frontline seamer was never more stark. India had decided to bring in Kuldeep for Umesh Yadav for 2nd Test at Lord's, and despite seeing the conditions on the first day, which was washed out before the toss had even taken place, they decided to play with the left-arm wrist spinner. Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane defended team management’s decision of playing Kuldeep post Day 2 in press conference and said “The answer to your question will be, I feel, when Kuldeep Yadav takes four of five wickets tomorrow (on Saturday).” On the other hand, England picked Chris Woakes ahead of Moeen Ali as they had Adil Rashid in the playing 11 but didn’t used him first innings as India were bundled out for 107 runs.

 

Failure to capitalize on key moments of the game

Despite being bowled out for a dismal 107 in the first innings of the Test match, India were in with a chance as the hosts were reduced to 131/5 thanks to a brilliant spell of fast bowling from Mohammed Shami who was well complimented at the other end by Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya bowling in tandem. India were in with an opportunity to bundle out the opposition for less than 180 which would have allowed them to come back into the game after a poor show in the first innings with the bat. India, however, let the situation slip out of hand as England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow and all-rounder Chris Woakes steadied the ship for the hosts and went on to add a record 189 for the sixth wicket. Bairstow missed out on a well-deserved hundred while Woakes stayed unbeaten till the end as England declared their innings at 396/7 with a massive lead of 289 in the first innings. There was no coming back from there as the visitors were once again bundled out for 130 in 2nd innings, thus losing by an innings and 159 runs.
 

Dinesh Karthik failed to show up with a bat

Dinesh Karthik was seen by many as a worthy successor to M S Dhoni in Tests, especially after having had to stay under the latter's shadow for such a long time before finally getting an opportunity. But Karthik has not been able to make use of what he has got, and with Wriddhiman Saha recovering from a shoulder injury and a highly energetic Rishabh Pant very much active in the sidelines, it may look like Karthik will soon go back into where he was all this while - at the fringe of national selection.