Conquering Lord’s :

Virat Kohli became the third Indian captain to register a Lord’s test win after Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni and what a victory it was. England entered day 5 as favorites and Indian fans were only hoping for a draw because the team was in a position from where a win was looking a little too optimistic. We forgot that this current Indian team always goes for the win and that is what happened in this one too, a very special victory.

India owned the first day as KL Rahul played one of the best knocks of his life as Rohit Sharma also scored crucial runs to put 364 on the board, Joe Root’s 180* helped England take a narrow lead as India went on to bat at the start of day 4, England bowler’s dismissed the Indian openers early in the innings as the pressure surrounded the Indian team. Pujara and Rahane stitched up a 100+ runs partnership to guide India into a safe position. As they both got out at the end of day 4 it was upon the tail to make sure we reach a respectable total. All eyes were on Rishabh Pant to score big as day 5 began.

Ollie Robinson bowled a beauty to take out Pant as Bumrah and Shami occupied the crease. It was looking tense at this point with bouncers coming our way. The aggression was right up there as the players got very vocal on the field. Bumrah and Shami were not in the mood to give up as they started their innings with a very calculated defensive approach and then went onto score 89 runs together with Shami scoring a half-century.

Our bowler got 60 overs to force a result, it looked difficult but the Indian seamers were spot on. With Bumrah and Shami dismissing England openers for 0 the middle order was exposed very early in the game. Joe Root and Haseeb Hameed were on the crease for a brief period before Ishant Sharma dismissed Hameed, Bairstow was dismissed by Sharma just before Tea.  Bumrah struck in the first over after tea as he took the big wicket of England skipper, India was smelling a win here. Buttler fought hard with Moeen before Siraj took 2 in 2 as both Moeen and Sam Curran departed. Robinson was next as he was trapped leg before by a slower on by Bumrah and to seal the win Siraj took Anderson’s wicket and the celebrations began.

This win is definitely going to give us a lot of momentum and confidence going ahead in the series. Being 1-0 up already gives the players a little more freedom to express themselves and puts a lot of pressure on England. This Indian team is slowly getting to a stage where they don’t have to worry about the pitches, they stick to their plans and strengths and we all can see the results.