ENG vs IND 2018: Ravi Shastri Concedes Team Management Got The Playing Eleven Wrong For Lord's Test
Credits: Getty

India head coach Ravi Shastri has admitted that the team management made an error by including two spinners in the playing eleven for the second England vs India Test.

India’s dismal record in overseas continued as England thumped India by an innings and 159 runs to go two nil up in the series. Despite the first day being washed out and the game being marred by several other rain-interruptions, England wrapped it up inside four days.

In the first innings, India were all out for just 107 with James Anderson taking 5 for 20. In reply, England scored a mammoth 396 for 7 to put the game beyond India’s reach. And the visitors did little to challenge England.

Trailing by a huge 289 runs, draw was the only option for India. However, it took England less than two sessions to bundle up the world number one Test side. India never looked in contention to save the game and were all out for just 130. Overall, India batted less the 83 overs in the game.

England vs India, Ravi Shastri
It was an error: Ravi Shastri on team selection (England vs India, Credits: Getty)

What made things tough for India was their poor selection in the playing eleven. In pacer-friendly conditions, India included two spinners. And the move badly backfired. Both R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav conceded over 4 runs per over and failed to pick up a single wicket.

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And speaking ahead of the third Test, Shastri admitted the mistake.

“In hindsight, it was an error. We should have gone, seeing the conditions, with an extra seamer. It might have helped. Then again, you didn’t know how much it would rain, whether a match could go into the final day where just in case spinner is needed and the ball starts to turn, would we have needed him. But in hindsight the way things panned out, the amount it rained, the time we lost, a seamer could have been a better option,” he told the media.

England vs India, Ravi Shastri
A seamer could have been a better option: Ravi Shastri (England vs India, Credits: Getty)

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