India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hailed his side’s determination in forcing the collapse of England, who faced new trouble with the withdrawal of wicketkeeper Matt Prior for at least the rest of the season.
India head towards the third Test in Southampton on Sunday in a dominant position against a demoralised England – crushed by 95 runs at Lord’s on Monday.
Ishant Sharma, not the fastest bowler in world cricket and not renowned for his use of the short ball, bounced out a succession of England batsmen after Dhoni, playing his last Test at Lord’s, finally persuaded him to drop short.
The result was a devastating burst of five wickets for 24 runs in 33 balls either side of lunch that led Sharma to finish with Test-best figures of seven for 74.
India ended a woeful sequence of 15 successive Tests without an away victory. England have now not won in 10 Tests.
“This is a result of hard effort … and it was fantastic to see the determination the guys showed,” said 33-year-old Dhoni.
“It seems it will be my last at Lord’s, for sure … so it’s definitely memorable.”
Dhoni admitted it was initially very difficult to convince Sharma of a plan he’d hatched with India coach Duncan Fletcher, formerly in charge of England.
“I set the field for him so that he doesn’t even think of bowling up – he is forced to bowl the length that I want him to bowl,” he said.
The plan worked better than even Dhoni could have hoped for.
Moeen Ali was caught at short leg off a bouncer to the last ball before lunch. After the break Prior, Ben Stokes – who completed a pair – and Joe Root all fell trying to hook Sharma.
“He (Sharma) has the height so he can exploit the bounce and put pressure on batsmen and can add this to his armoury,” Dhoni said.
“We have been trying to convince our bowlers to bowl a few bouncers.”
India are also hoping for a ‘win’ off the field, when on Tuesday Ravindra Jadeja takes part in a preliminary hearing on International Cricket Council disciplinary charges arising from his alleged confrontation with England’s James Anderson during the first Test in Nottingham.
The pair shook hands at Lord’s after Jadeja ran out Anderson to seal only India’s second Test win at the ground in 82 years.
England captain Alistair Cook insisted he had no intention of quitting, despite now going 27 innings without a Test hundred.
“I haven’t had any tougher times in my career than at the moment,” said Cook. “It gets harder and harder the longer it goes on.
“But I don’t think walking away from it would be the way to go.”
