- By Gurmeet Batra
- Sun, 29 Jun 2025 04:50 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
India vs England 2nd Test: England's batters decided to aggressively target Ravindra Jadeja in the 82nd over to quickly wrap up the win in the first Test in anticipation that India might bring in pace ace Jasprit Bumrah in a desperate attempt to take some late wickets.
With England's star batter Joe Root and keeper-batter Jamie Smith batting comfortably and chasing the target of 371, the latter concluded the match by hitting the star Indian all-rounder for two maximums and a boundary to guide the Three Lions to a remarkable five-wicket victory.
"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.
England's thinking was that had Shubman Gill exhorted Bumrah into bowling when the hosts were 355/5 after the 81st over and the Indian quick had hit a couple of blows, things could have become little challenging for Ben Stokes' 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."
"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," said Smith.
He added, "The second new ball can bring wickets but it can increase the scoring rate as well. There's always a little bit of calculated thinking behind it."
Smith said India "kept trying all day" on the final day but England's philosophy of keeping it simple in good batting conditions helped the hosts get over the line.
Chasing 371, England won in the final hour with Ben Duckett (149), Zak Crawley (65), Root (53 not out) and Smith (44 not out) delivering the goods.
"It was simple in that you knew you had to chase the runs and we weren't going to block out for the draw. We were always going to be positive and try to get the runs. It was a rapid outfield and as good a batting conditions as you could have on day five," Smith said.
"It (wicket) wasn't misbehaving too much as the Test went on, so you always felt as though you could keep it simple, you didn't have to do things too out the box to get the runs which is very helpful,” he added.