How India went the ‘extra' mile in Lord's Test defeat

India Today

6 days ago

In the end, the scorebook will show that India lost the Lord's Test by 22 runs—a narrow margin by any standard. But buried in that margin, in the white spaces between the runs scored and wickets lost, lies a deeper, more damning truth: India conceded 63 extras in the match. Not a mere oversight but a telling indictment—a haemorrhage of discipline that, in a contest this tight, proved terminal.England, for comparison, conceded just 30 extras. And in their second innings—when the ball moved, the mood darkened and the match tilted—India leaked 32 extras out of a team total of 192, amounting to 16.67 per cent of the total. Of these, a staggering 25 came in byes, the third-highest contribution to the scorecard after Joe Root's 40 and Ben Stokes's 33. Such figures signal a collective lapse—of execution, urgency and accountability.advertisementA chase that never took offTo chase 193 in the second innings at Lord's is, in most conditions, a manageable task, well within the realm of the possible. India, however, emerged with an approach as if they had a mountain of runs to chase. They were tentative, prodding. The shot selection was not just conservative—it was defeatist. Jofra Archer and Stokes, with their typical blend of craft and carnage, found swing and bounce. Each picked up three wickets.
Ravindra Jadeja's innings was valiant—he struck the ball cleanly, looked unflustered by the collapse unravelling around him—but it came too late. K.L. Rahul's 39 was the only other score of intent, but by then the rot had set in. If there was ever a match to seize, it was this. Instead, India waited—and watched it slip.When Pant fellMomentum in cricket, like mood in theatre, shifts almost invisibly—until suddenly it's everywhere. In India's first innings, that moment came just before lunch on Day Three, with Rishabh Pant batting fluently on 74. India were 248 for 4, with a fragile England reeling. And then, without warning, came the mix-up.Pant set off, Rahul hesitated and the stumps were broken. It was not just the loss of a wicket—it was the unravelling of intent. Pant had been India's most expressive batter across the series, his innings that morning blending risk with reason. The run-out had no logic, no tactical benefit—a moment of madness.India added just 139 more runs for their remaining six wickets, folding for 387, only matching England's first innings total. They should have taken a 40 to 60-run lead. Instead, they re-entered the game at parity—and mentally on the back foot.A dropped catch that hauntedFor a brief moment in England's first innings, India had the upper hand. Mohammed Siraj, hustling in with the ball tailing under grey skies, had Jamie Smith on 5 when he drew an outside edge. It flew at a comfortable height to second slip, where Rahul stood. But the ball thudded into his palms and fell out—a regulation chance gone begging. Siraj's hands went to his head; so did India's.advertisementSmith went on to make 51 off 56 balls, a counter-attacking cameo that, in retrospect, may have been the knock that kept England alive. It prevented collapse, changed the tone and handed momentum back to the hosts. When margins are slim, errors grow fangs.Akash Deep: A hero missed his cueIn the previous Test, Akash Deep had emerged as an unlikely hero—swinging the ball, seaming it late, ransacking top orders with gusto. At Lord's, a venue tailormade for seam and precision, the scene was set for him to build on that momentum.Instead, his returns were sobering: One wicket for 122 runs across two innings. It wasn't simply that he failed to take wickets—he failed to exert pressure. His lines wandered, his lengths drifted, and England's batters—particularly the middle order—picked him off with impunity. His inability to hold one end allowed England to reset after every key wicket.In contrast, Jasprit Bumrah delivered one of his finest match performances, picking up seven wickets, crafting dismissals with nuance and menace. But bowling, like warfare, demands pressure from both flanks. While Bumrah attacked, Akash Deep failed to hold the perimeter.advertisementNightwatchman strategy backfiredIn the second innings, India's strategy unravelled further. Choosing to send Akash Deep as nightwatchman, they hoped to shield their middle order from the late burst of English quicks. Instead, Akash Deep fell early, exposing the underbelly.Yashasvi Jaiswal, so promising earlier in the series, made 13 and 0, undone by rash stroke-play. Karun Nair, handed another opportunity, flattered only to deceive. India's top three yielded little, and the middle order never looked secure. As collapse loomed, so did inevitability.By the final session, India had clawed within 40 runs of the target. Jadeja played audacious strokes, the crowd held its breath, and for a fleeting moment, the improbable beckoned.But pressure found the edges, and wickets fell in clusters. What lingered in mind, however, were the extras—not anomalies, but symptoms. At 63 extras in a Test match and 25 byes in a single innings, it's more than a statistical oddity—a lapse in fundamentals. It betrays a side that let the game slip not just with the bat or ball but with basics.Defeat by detailTest cricket, unlike most sport, allows for complexity. One can play well and still lose. One can dominate sessions and still fail. But when a team loses by 22 runs, having conceded 63 in extras, drops a batter on 5 who goes on to make 51, and runs out their vice-captain while cruising, it's not just a loss. It's a case study.advertisementLord's was not a defeat born of English brilliance alone. It was shaped by Indian indecision, polished by Indian error, and finalised by a scorecard that will never quite capture how avoidable it all was.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends