Steve Smith states that England wanted to finish the Leeds Test quickly in order to not let Jasprit Bumrah strike crucial wickets.
England deciding to smash Ravindra Jadeja, and finish their task of reaching the score total and win the first Test against India in Leeds in a hurry was because of the fact that Jasprit Bumrah could have been brought in an attempt to take some late wickets.
Joe Root and Jamie Smith player comfortably and reached the winning target of 371- with the latter finishing the match by smashing Ravindra Jadeja for two sixes and a four to guide the hosts to a memorable five-wicket win.
“The runs at that point (when Smith decided to go after Jadeja) were not too many, so I wasn’t expecting him (Bumrah) to come on and bowl (with the new ball), but you’re just never quite sure, especially in cricket,” Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
The thought process of England was that if Shubman Gill had brought in Jasprit Bumrah when the hosts were at 355/5 after 81st over with a couple of blows from the Indian side, things could have been slightly difficult for the team.
“You don’t know what will happen. I always back our tail but there could be a couple of decent balls and suddenly you’re eight-down and the pressure’s back on you again. It was nice to just get it done and move on,” said Smith.
“I knew there was a new ball coming and it looks as though I’d exposed Chris Woakes (at No. 8) but, at that point, if I’d hit another couple of sixes in that over, you’re taking all the momentum into the new ball,” he concluded.
The second Test of the five-match series is going to begin June 2nd, and will be held in Edgbaston, Birmingham.
India’s Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kl Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwan, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sandul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
