Ravi Ashwin shares how Virat Kohli asked his mates to welcome Bumrah and Shami at the Long Room during Lord’s Test

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami played key roles in India’s 151-run victory over England in the Lord’s Test that ended a couple of days ago. Not only did they pick up wickets at crunch moments of the game, but also made handy contributions with the bat in hand. Ahead of the fifth day’s play, the match was evenly poised with all three results on the cards at the Home of Cricket.

Ollie Robinson had picked up Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma in quick succession to put the hosts on the driver’s seat. However, Bumrah and Shami had other plans. The duo stitched together an unbeaten stand of 89 runs for the ninth wicket to erase any chances of England winning the match.

Shami was the more attacking of the two as he managed to score 56 runs off 70 balls with the help of six fours and one six. Bumrah lent him support as he hit three fours on his way to a 64-ball 34. The duo countered England’s pace attack efficiently and garnered loads of praises.

Bumrah and Shami also had their moments while returning to the dressing room. At the Long Room, the Indian players greeted them with cheers and accolades. Speaking on the same, off-spinner Ravi Ashwin said that it was Virat Kohli’s idea to praise the batting duo on their return from the middle.

Ravi Ashwin opines  

“When we realized, they were going to come in at lunch, Virat came and said, ‘Every one of us is going down to cheer and welcome the boys. The noise has to be so huge that it has to reverberate in Lord’s for years to come’,” Ashwin was quoted as saying while speaking on his YouTube channel.

The Tamil Nadu-born Ashwin, who’s yet to play a Test on the tour, was joined by Team India’s fielding coach R Sridhar during the conversation. They discussed that the celebrations were so loud that the Three Lions didn’t even come out for lunch in the shared area.

The third Test is scheduled to start on August 25 at the Headingley in Leeds. Joe Root and Co. have a tough task at hand if they want to draw level in the series.