All who had witnessed the proceedings of the India vs England third Test at Lord’s would have believed that either team had played stunningly and made an even impact on this occasion. India might have dismissed four of England’s top 5 batters, including centurions from previous games Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Harry Brook.
But England has also gathered 251 runs at the end of Day 1, with Joe Root nearing his 8th Test hundred at the iconic venue of Lord’s. English batter Joe Root defied coach Brendon McCullum’s game plan of bazball and adopted orthodox measures to counter the Lord’s pitch.
This is a fact worth consideration: the Lord’s pitch is not similar to the previous two Tests, where the tracks were claimed to be subcontinental, as it largely favoured batting.
Your daily dose of cricket!
Ravichandran Ashwin recognizes England’s change of plans for the Lord’s
Ever since Ben Stokes formed the ideal pair with head coach Brendon McCullum, England has never decided to step down from the general approach of ‘slam bang, thank you ma’am.’
However, when everyone predicted a similar condition at Lord’s, they changed gears, scoring only 250 at a run rate of nearly 3. Credit should also be given to Indian bowlers who restricted them to a low score.
Joe Root nearly faced 180 deliveries and still missed his hundred by one run on Day 1, though he scored his 8th hundred at Lord’s eventually on Day 2 before being dismissed by Bumrah.
Former Indian great Ravichandran Ashwin has identified how England ditched their Bazball type of gameplay and switched to other conservative techniques.
“It was a great day for England. Everyone believed England was going to continue with Bazball, but they betrayed everyone by playing Prankball instead. They usually score at a net run rate of 4, 4.5 an over, but today was different. England were going at three runs an over.”
I had previously discussed that Joe Root scoring runs is very important for the team. Commeth the man, Commeth the hour. His innings was a lesson in how Test cricket needs to be played. Root is back,” said Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel.
Strategy unfolded for India by Ravichandran Ashwin
The former player Ashwin identified that the Lord’s pitch is not as flat as the previous two; hence, India should aim at bowling England out early on Day 2 and keeping them to a score below 350.
Ashwin feels the Lord’s pitch will play a few tricks as the days advance here, and more cricket is being played.
“If you look at this pitch, it possesses some sub-continent tendencies. The ball usually softens up after 60 overs, but if you look at Ravindra Jadeja, one back of a length delivery hit Joe Root’s bat very low. Now, this on Day 1 at Lord’s is quite a contrast to the conditions that you expect in England,” claimed Ravichandran Ashwin.
“There is contrasting bounce and variable pace on this pitch. If I were India, I would be telling the bowler to roll them out in the first session tomorrow. Can they keep England below 350? Because the longer England plays, this surface is going to play tricks,” added the veteran spinner from his YouTube channel.
India abided by Ravichandran Ashwin’s advice
Even without their knowledge of what Ravichandran Ashwin had suggested through his YouTube channel, they have abided by his suggestions, picking wickets early on Day 2.
Once again, it’s wickets, and it’s Jasprit Bumrah for India. Bumrah returned to the Lord’s Test after resting for the previous game at Edgbaston. However, he never stopped giving the batters a very tough time, but claimed only a single wicket on Day 1.
Day 2 has gone in Bumrah’s favour as he has a hat-trick of wickets with Ben Stokes in the 85th over and Joe Root and Chris Woakes in consecutive deliveries in the 87th over of the game.
ALSO READ: Asia Cup 2025 to be played without India? PCB official’s crazy claim..
