Birmingham | England “ran second for five days” in the second Test but the hosts need to ensure they are well planned and prepared for facing the challenge of Jasprit Bumrah’s return for the third Test at Lord’s, says head coach Brendon McCullum.
Bumrah sat on the sidelines and watch his teammates complete their England demolition job in the second Test here to level the five-Test series 1-1, winning by a monumental 336 runs for their also maiden Test win at Edgbaston.
Bumrah, who is slated to play only three of the five Tests of this series, was confirmed to make a comeback at the home of cricket by India captain Shubman Gill after the second Test win.
“Bumrah will more than likely come back in for the next one so we’ve just got to make sure we’re well planned and well prepared and ready for the next challenge,” McCullum was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“It will be quite different I imagine to this surface and that’s probably a good thing for us.” “We ran second for five days. I thought India played exceptionally well. Shubman Gill was at an elite level and played brilliantly on this pitch. We weren’t quite able to play how we wanted to on it and they thoroughly deserved to win,” he added.
The former New Zealand captain admitted England made the wrong call of putting India in to bat after winning the toss and overall, assessed the pitch incorrectly.