Akash Chopra comes to the rescue of Indian wicket keeper following India's narrow Test defeat at the Lord's

India narrowly missed securing a historic win at the Lord's. Reduced to 112-8 by lunch, a massive defeat was on the cards for the tourists. Ravindra Jadeja emerged as the lone warrior and dragged the game deep, all the way to the last session to keep the Indian hopes alive. At last, the resistance came to an end when Mohammed Siraj failed to keep the ball out of danger and played it back on his stumps, leaving India agonizingly short of their target by 23 runs. 

In the wake of India's heartbreaking Lord's Test defeat, a lot of finger-pointing has already begun as fans look to decipher the possible reasons for India's downfall. One major detail that emerges following the conclusion of the third test is the number of extras that were conceded by India across two innings. A galloping 36 byes were leaked, which brings the substitute keeper Dhruv Jurel under the scanner.

Jurel took over the keeping responsibilities after Pant suffered an injury on day one of the Test. Jurel reportedly struggled to keep as the ball wobbled around viciously through the air, while a few odd deliveries behaved erratically off the pitch. 

See also: [WATCH] Ajay Jadeja echoes India’s emotions following heart-breaking ENG vs IND 3rd Test defeat at Lord’s

Aakash Chopra defends Jurel amid India's defeat at Lord's

Although the former Indian test opener acknowledged Jurel's lapses behind the stumps, he particularly didn't buy into the fact that India went on to lose primarily because of him. In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Chopra stressed that Jurel can't be blamed solely for India's defeat and also recognized the challenges of keeping wickets at the Lord's. 

"A narrative is being set that India lost because of the byes Dhruv Jurel conceded, that he came in as a substitute keeper, he didn't bat, Rishabh Pant did that, but the byes he conceded was the only reason. You didn't lose the match because of Dhruv Jurel."

Furthermore, he also dwelt upon the difficult challenges that the keepers have to contend with and pointed out that most of the deliveries which Jurel missed were "ungatherable". 

"There is a problem at Lord's. The ball goes in one direction, and then keeps moving in the other direction with the slope. I was seeing deliveries from (Jasprit) Bumrah and (Mohammed) Siraj, the kid was diving, but wasn't able to reach there. The balls were so far away. If the ball had gone past the batter where it finished, you would have said it's a wide."

Chopra further reiterated that a Test is not lost by the blunder of just one player alone. He shed light on a number of other reasons that led to India's defeat, one of which was India's sudden batting collapse in the first innings that prevented them from getting any lead. Amid criticism from the fans, the cricketer turned commentator has come to Jurel's defence and has urged fans to be less sensitive.