England vs India: Kumar Sangakkara defends Murali Vijay’s pair at Lord's

Former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara on Sunday came out to the rescue of Indian opener Murali Vijay who bagged a pair in the second Test at Lord’s. Vijay lasted eight balls in the second essay, as against five in the first and was picked up by James Anderson on both instances. India had a disastrous start in their pursuit to save the Test after conceding a lead of 289 runs.

The 40-year-old former cricketer, who is the fifth highest run-getter in Tests, said he didn’t find any fault with Vijay and said it was a tough condition for batsmen in the conditions that prevailed at Lord’s in the current Test. Sangakkara who is commentating in the match, watched him closely both times and thus has a better idea on how things panned out.

Don’t blame him

“I don’t blame him at all. He’s seen the ball swing away and take his off stump (in the first innings), it was an absolute peach. He’s seen the ball swing like that, so he covers the outside edge and it knicks off the inside edge,” Sangakkara said while talking on Sky Sports.

“It is a tough life for a batsman out there. Jimmy has been fantastic but you can see the doubt in the batsman’s mind, he just doesn’t know where the ball is going, he hedges his bets and unfortunately, the ball is just too good. Maybe because of the wet outfield and constant drizzle the ball hasn’t swung as much in the air but every time the seam hit and it was getting slightly more damp, it kept jagging back in,” he added.

India were reduced to 13 for 2 after England declared their first innings score at 396 for 7 on Day 4 of the Lord’s Test. Both Vijay and the other opener, KL Rahul, got out cheaply and left the repair work for the middle-order. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were holding India’s fort after the early shocks.

England declared too late

Sangakkara is of the opinion that England might have declared their innings a bit too late.

“It is a bit of balance. England would have wanted to make sure there was no chance of batting again, so wanted the comfort of an extra few runs. I like that they came out there and attacked, it was not just sitting around and getting singles,” he said.

“They would have also trusted their radar, they are a lot more accurate in this part of the world. They would have seen some the weather around and made their decision.”

“It might come back to haunt them if it rains a lot. In Colombo if it rains you know the day is done. You’ve shut the studio down and you’re playing cards somewhere,” Sanga stated.

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