"Why shouldn’t we bowl bodyline? We are not playing to please anyone" - Shardul Thakur on India's short-pitch ploy against James Anderson

Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur has revealed that England seamerJames Anderson’s words to Jasprit Bumrah and the home side abusing the Indian spearhead charged the tourists up during the Lord’s Test of the recent series.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Thakur opened up about the fiery confrontation between Bumrah and Anderson. It happened after the Indian pacer dished out sustained chin music to the No.11 batsman during the 1st innings of the Lord’s Test. It also led to the visiting team getting charged up on what was an enthralling final day of the 2nd Test.

Thakur said:

"We were trying to attack Anderson. Something had happened during the Lord’s Test and it was carried to The Oval. I was later told that Anderson said something to Bumrah which he shouldn’t have, I was told they (England team) abused Bumrah. Those words cannot be said in public, so everyone got charged up after this."

The Lord’s Test saw tempers flare between both sides after Bumrah unleashed ‘ten balls from hell’ to Anderson on the second evening.

The relentless barrage of short-pitch bowling did not go down well with the 39-year-old. Anderson opted to let Bumrah know as both sets of players walked back to the dressing room at the close of play.

Several Indian players alleged that Anderson and the entire English team had abused Bumrah, which really charged up the tourists.

'When we go overseas, our tailenders also face bouncers'- Shardul Thakur

Following Bumrah’s sustained hostility against the English tail, especially Anderson, there were once again debates regarding whether the fast bowlers should ball short-pitch stuff against lower-order batsmen.

Citing the example of the Australian series where the likes of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins constantly attacked the Indian tail with a barrage of bumpers, Shardul asked why can’t the tourists' seamers return the same favour to the opposition tail?

The 29-year-old said:

"When we go overseas, our tailenders also face bouncers. In Australia, Natrajan was bowled bouncers by Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins despite them knowing that this guy hasn’t batted much even in First Class cricket. So now when our opponents’ tailender come to bat then why can’t we bowl bouncers at him? Why shouldn’t we bowl bodyline? We are not playing to please anyone. We are playing there to win."

England eventually lost the plot on the final day of the Lord’s Test in their attempt to return the favor by bumping both Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.

The move backfired substantially as the duo added more than 100 runs for the 9th wicket to bat the home side out of the game before they returned with the ball to knock Joe Root’s side over in less than 60 overs.