'Fear of failing got the better of him...': Ex-India star blames Ravindra Jadeja for not 'trusting' Jasprit Bumrah in Lord's Test

Former India cricketer Balwinder Singh Sandhu feels that the pressure got the better of Ravindra Jadeja in the third Test of the series against England at Lord's. The pacer who won the 1983 World Cup with India also believes that Jadeja didn't trust Jasprit Bumrah enough during his partnership with the star seamer.

Jadeja and Bumrah formed a valuable stand

Though Jadeja and Bumrah only added 35 runs to India's total with the partnership, they frustrated the England bowling attack quite a bit and didn't let the Men in Blue lose any more wickets for almost 22 overs. The stand saw India take the hosts to the absolute limit as the match got decided in the final session of Day 5.

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"Coming to the final moments, Ravindra Jadeja is someone I’ve known since his U-19 days at the National Cricket Academy. Even back then, he showed maturity beyond his age. He’s a smart cricketer, calm under pressure, but this time, maybe the fear of failing, or the pressure of not trusting the tail, got the better of him," Sandhu wrote in his column for Mid-day.

"If only he had trusted Jasprit Bumrah a bit more - especially when Bumrah was defending so well - and resisted taking that single off the fourth ball to retain strike. Had he backed himself to finish it in those last two balls, with the field up, it was a perfect moment to go for the boundary," he added.

The likes of Jadeja, Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj fought incredibly hard and didn't give away their wickets easily. Thanks to their contributions with the bat, the match turned out to be quite a tense contest with neither team backing down. However, the tailenders' resistance was finally broken by England bowlers in the third session as India got bundled out for 170, just 22 runs short of the target of 193.

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The win saw the Three Lions take a 2-1 lead in the series ahead of the fourth Test in Manchester which is set to commence from July 23. It is crucial for the Men in Blue to win the upcoming game as another loss for them would result in the hosts sealing the series even before playing the fifth and final match.