New Delhi: The recently concluded Test series between India and England not only saw a battle between the ball and bat but also a verbal battle between the players. The players from both the teams resorted to fierce sledging at each other. This clash between the players was the highest during the Lord's Test. In the same match, English pacer James Anderson and Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah had a heated exchange. Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur has revealed what exactly happened between these two.
James Anderson abused Jasprit Bumrah, says Shardul Thakur
"We were trying to attack James Anderson. Something happened during the Lord's Test and continued till the Oval Test. I was later told that Anderson said something to Bumrah that he shouldn't have said. I was told that he had abused Bumrah," Shardul Thakur was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
In this series, the English bowlers bowled fierce bouncers against the Indian tailenders. The Indian bowlers also gave a befitting reply to England by bowling some fiery short-picthed deliveries to lower order batsmen, especially James Anderson. Shardul further said that Indian tailenders are often targeted with such deliveries and therefore it is only appropriate for them to target the lower order batsmen of rival teams with the same strategy.
Shardul said, "When we go abroad, our tailenders also have to face bouncers. In Australia, Natarajan was bowled bouncers by Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, although they knew that this man had not batted much in first-class cricket either."
He further said," when tailenders from rival teams come to bat, why can't we bowl bouncers to them? Why can't we do bodyline bowling? We're not playing to please anyone. We also go abroad with the intention of winning."
The first Test of the five-match Test series between India and England was drawn, and then India won the second Test. After which England won the third Test and then Team India won the fourth Test to take a 2-1 lead before the final Test gpt called-off due to Covid-19 scare. Team India's head coach, bowling coach, fielding coach and physio had tested positive for Coronavirus. This led to the cancellation of the final Test of the series.