LONDON // Assistant coach Paul Farbrace disputed assertions that England’s big names let the side down as they were left facing a fight to save the second Test at Lord’s.
To avoid a 10th Test without victory, England were required to replicate their first-innings 319 after Ravindra Jadeja’s career-best 68 from No 8 – and yet another half-century from tailender Bhuvneshwar Kumar (52) – helped India to 342 all out.
But with captain Alastair Cook departing cheaply again, this time for only 22 runs, and Ian Bell out for just one, England ended the day on 105 for four, 216 shy of their target.
Asked if England had been doomed by the likes of Cook, Bell and the struggling Matt Prior, Fabrace said: “Not at all. We look at it as a team, you lose as a team and you win as a team.
“Everybody on the team is always looking for better performances. The practice and the work-rate that we’ve got from everybody in the squad is fantastic and everybody’s always looking to improve their game.
“So it’s a team performance and we’ll look at the team rather than at individuals.”
Cook has come in for the most criticism for totalling just 129 runs in nine Test innings this year.
“Alastair Cook was doing okay, but he was doing alright in the first innings until he got out,” England opening great Geoffrey Boycott, commentating for BBC Radio’s Test Match Special, said. “He can’t totally eradicate his faults. The selectors are all hoping he gets a fifty, but it’s not happening for him and it might be even worse for him tomorrow if England lose.”
Farbrace, though, is not too concerned about the batsman.
“He’s fine,” he said. “He’s in there chatting to the two lads who are not out, talking about the day tomorrow and looking forward to the scrap tomorrow. He’s absolutely fine.”
While England’s first job is to avoid defeat, Farbrace said they need “one big partnership” to pull off victory, and suggested Moeen Ali (15 not out) and Joe Root (14), the two men in at stumps, might be the ones to provide it. “It’s a huge day tomorrow,” he told Sky Sports 2.
“It’s been a fantastic cricket wicket for the bowlers and the people that have got stuck in and fought have got runs.
“If you miss your length, you get onto the boundary pretty quickly, so it really needs one big partnership and a couple of small ones tomorrow and we’ve got a chance of being up there.
“We’ve got a bit to do tomorrow. We’ve got to fight hard and get stuck in, but we’ve got two guys who love a scrap.
“We saw it with Moeen at Headingley, only two Test matches ago – there will have been many people on that day thinking we couldn’t bat through the day, but he batted all day for a hundred.
“We’ll keep fighting and the spirit is pretty good, but it has been a tough day.”
Earlier, Murali Vijay made 95 for India before a 99-run partnership between Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar.
Resuming on 169 for four, Vijay and India captain MS Dhoni took the tourists to 202 for four before they lost two wickets for one run.
Dhoni edged Liam Plunkett to Bell, before Stuart Binny fell for a duck. He rashly scooped a ball from Ali over midwicket, where Cook took an excellent catch over his shoulder while running backward.
When Vijay was removed by James Anderson, he was visibly frustrated at being needlessly drawn into playing at the delivery with three figures in sight.
He smacked the ground with his bat, and batting partner Jadeja patted him on the back as he left the crease to rapturous applause from the crowd for a battling innings.
“It was disappointing, but I will take it any day if we can pull off a win tomorrow,” the opening batsman said. “Ravindra played well and really helped us and obviously Bhuvneshwar is hitting the ball really well. They both put us in a very good position.”
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