KL Rahul, the man of the match in the second Test Match at Lord's, said the heated exchange of words between Jasprit Bumrah and the England players during India's second innings got the whole team going.
"With two competitive teams, you're going to see a lot of heart and great skills and some words," the India opener said after India's 151-run win on Monday, only their third at Lord's in 89 years. "We don't mind a bit of banter, but if you go after one of our guys, all eleven will come right back. So that got us going, and the bowlers were really pumped to go out and have a crack," he said about the on-field chat.
Bumrah was involved in a verbal duel with England bowler Mark Wood and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler while batting in the second innings.
Pumped up by the altercation, Bumrah gave it his all and hit Wood's very first delivery after the spat to the boundary in a wild swing of his bat. Bumrah was welcomed to the crease with a barrage of bouncers, something he had done to England's James Anderson during their first innings.
Bumrah and Shami, who shared an 89-run partnership for the ninth wicket, which helped India set up a target of 272 runs for England, were also involved in a verbal duel with James Anderson. The players kept the umpires busy, who had to intervene multiple times during the day to calm things down.
Later, skipper Virat Kohli could be heard saying a few words to Ollie Robinson during England's second innings. However, by that time, India were in a comfortable position, inching closer to victory.
Meanwhile, Rahul, who scored a crucial 129 runs in the first innings and shared a 126-run opening wicket partnership with Rohit Sharma, said he has been looking at the Lord's Honours Board every morning to see if his name has gone up permanently.
"I've been looking at it every morning to see if they've put it up permanently," he said, adding that he was happy that his hundred could set up a victory for India.
India won the second Test match at Lord's by 151 runs.
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