Sir Ian Botham reckons India need a break from cricket to get their mojo back

India’s Test campaign in England had gone from bad to worse as they lost the second Test at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London by a colossal margin of an innings and 159 runs. Virat Kohli’s men remained clueless for a chunk of the encounter as the Englishmen kept nailing one nail after the other in their coffin. It was India’s first innings defeat since 2014 at Kennington Oval.

James Anderson’s venom turned out to be too hot to handle for the visiting team and they were shot out for 107 in the first innings. The speedster notched a five-wicket-haul to break the backbone of the Indian batting lineup. Thereafter, Chris Woakes’ maiden Test century and Jonny Bairstow’s gutsy knock of 93 guided the Three Lions to a mammoth lead of 289 runs in the first innings.

They could have two days off

In the second innings, Anderson weaved his magic once again. He racked up 100 Test wickets at Lord’s and also his 550th wicket in the format. He picked up four wickets. In the meantime, India were bowled out for 130. After India’s drubbing, former English cricketer Sir Ian Botham believes that the visitors should shelve their cricketing practice for a couple of days before the third Test.

“You don’t want naught-boy nets – that never works. They could have two days off and do what they want as a team, while I think Kohli needs a week to get himself right if he is going to play. He looked pretty uncomfortable out there,” Botham was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

The third Test starts on August 18 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham and India need to go back to the drawing board in a bid to eradicate the chinks in their armour. Moreover, they can’t afford another slip up by any means. The fourth and fifth Test will be played at The Rose Bowl and KIA Oval respectively.

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