Lord's weighed on bowlers' mind: Borde

The Indian team manager defends the bowlers who failed to capitalise on the early movement offered by the Lord's track.

If Indian pacers cut a sorry figure on day one of the first cricket Test against England, it was due to butterflies in their stomach, according to team's cricket manager Chandu Borde.

"The boys over-pitched a bit and also erred in length and direction," said Borde.

"But it happens. There are players who are playing for the first time at Lord's, so they had butterflies in the stomach," he said after Thursday's proceedings.

After Michael Vaughan won the toss and decided to bat first, the Indian pace trio of Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and S Sreesanth failed to capitalise on the early movement offered by the Lord's track as England openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook scored at a brisk pace.

Sourav Ganguly earned the breakthrough when he trapped Cook and among the pacers, only RP Singh tasted success on the opening day when he had Vaughan caught behind, not before the host captain had played a sedate knock of 79.

Borde also attributed their loss of focus, especially in the pre-lunch session, to anxiety.

"Lord's is a such a wonderful place to play cricket, so players do get a bit overawed. It's always there at the back of their minds. As a player, I also got excited when I played here."