Shubman Gill has shown his ability to lead with his batting, as seen in his century and double century in the second India versus England Test. In the third India versus England Test at Lord’s, he also showed his tactical awareness and skill in mind games. On Thursday’s first session, a smart bowling change in the 14th over brought Nitish Kumar Reddy into the attack, and the fast-bowling all-rounder quickly took two wickets.
Later, when England became defensive during the second session, Gill teased Joe Root and Ollie Pope. No more entertaining cricket. Welcome back to the boring Test cricket, he said. During that session, England scored 70 runs in 24 overs, with a rate of 2.91 runs per over. India controlled England’s scoring, but Joe Root and Ollie Pope steadily advanced the score to 153 for two by tea on the first day of the Lord’s Test. England, usually recognized for their aggressive style, played a more restrained session, with Root (54 not out from 109 balls) and Pope (44 not out from 103) adopting a traditional Test match approach. They were content to let balls outside off-stump go unplayed, prioritizing defense and scoring only 70 runs in 24 overs.
For India, Rishabh Pant experienced a scare when a ball from Jasprit Bumrah hit his left fingertips, forcing him to leave the field and Dhruv Jurel replaced him behind the stumps. Root reached his fifty with a boundary towards fine leg. Earlier in the morning, India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy took two wickets in a productive over, leaving England at 83 for two at lunch. As anticipated, Prasidh Krishna was replaced by Bumrah in the only change to India’s lineup. Ben Stokes chose to bat first in a home game for only the second time in the Bazball period. Bumrah, Akash Deep, and Mohamed Siraj posed some challenges, but the English opening pair of Ben Duckett (23 off 40) and Zak Crawley (18 off 43) survived the first hour, reaching 39 without loss after 13 overs.
Because of the field’s slope, the Indian bowlers took time to adjust to the ground. Bumrah bowled from both the Pavillion End and the Nursery End, while Akash Deep, bowled with the new ball from the Nursery End. Instead of bringing back Akash Deep after the first hour, Captain Shubman Gill gave the ball to Reddy from the Nursery End, a decision that paid off. The first breakthrough was fortunate, with Duckett gloving a short ball to the wicket-keeper. On the next ball, Ollie Pope could have been out, but Gill dropped a difficult chance at gully. The over’s final ball resulted in Crawley’s dismissal, a beautiful delivery that seamed away and induced an edge to the keeper.