Mohammad Azharuddin goes hard at Jaiswal, Gill, Nair after India let it slip at Lord's: 'Anybody can be wise after...'

Mohammad Azharuddin rued India's lack of partnerships by the top order in their chase of 193 at Lord's on Day 5.

Mohammad Azharuddin had plenty of compassion for India’s tailenders but none whatsoever for the top order after the team failed to chase 193 against England in the third Test at Lord’s. The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy now stands 2-1 in England’s favour, but it could have been India in the lead had their batting shown some more character in the fourth and final innings of the match. India, whose top five had scored truckloads of runs in Headingly, Edgbaston and even in the first innings of the Lord’s Test, quite simply, did not show up, and once they were reduced to 58/4 at stumps, it was always going to be an uphill climb from there.

From left: Yashasvi Jaiswa, Shubman Gill, Karun Nair were dismissed cheaply (AFP Images)

Yashasvi Jaiswal played a ridiculous shot to get out for a duck, while Karun Nair woefully shouldered arms to a delivery and was given out. Captain Shubman Gill, who didn’t score much in the first innings, was expected to produce the kind of form he showed in the first two Tests, but he too was undone by Brydon Carse. KL Rahul tried, but all he could muster was 39, following a first-innings century. What hurt India most was that when they needed a partnership, none of the specialist batters could do so. On Day 5, when Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar and Rahul and Nitish Reddy were dismissed, the game was pretty much over. Or so it felt.

"I don’t think we batted well. Don’t think we batted positively in the second innings. If you see, we lost 4 wickets at the end of the day. And then coming into the fifth day, it was always going to be tough, not easy. We needed some good partnerships, as they always say. You can always say anybody can be wise after the event," Azharuddin told PTI.

Azharuddin congratulates India's lower-order

The former India captain, who led the country in two 50-overs World Cups in 1996 and 1999, had nothing but respect for the bottom three, and of course, Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja remained unbeaten on 61 from 181 deliveries on a pitch where India’s top five crumbled like a pack of cards. He put on 30 runs with Reddy, 35 with Jasprit Bumrah and another 23 with Mohammed Siraj before luck finally ran out. With 23 runs needed, Siraj middled the ball from Shoaib Bashir, but it trickled back on to the stumps to leave India heartbroken. Azharuddin says India should and will take heart from their spirited effort, but will rue the opportunities where they let England dominate, such as after the dismissal of Rishabh Pant on Day 3.

“I must admit and congratulate the tailenders for really putting up that brave front. Ravindra Jadeja really batted well. But I thought that maybe when Root and Bashir were bowling, he could have gone after them in those 4-5 overs. If he had gotten another 15-20 runs, the job would have been much easier. We cannot complain about his batting. The way he batted, stood there like a rock and at the end of the day, the result wasn’t much forthcoming for the Indian team. We faltered in the second innings. Rahul batted well too. But at some point, we allowed good bowlers to dominate,” added Azhar.