ENG vs IND 2025, Lord’s Test Day 3: Did India lose momentum after Rishabh Pant’s dismissal? Missed opportunity to take a first-innings lead?
Even after 13 days in a scheduled 25-day Test series, India continue to make the same mistake in England. On multiple previous occasions, they had the opportunity to punch the home side. But most times, they have taken one step forward and two steps back. On the third day of the third Lord’s Test, the Blue Brigade had the chance to take advantage of the tired home bowlers towards the end of a hot day. But they literally denied that.
There was a seven-minute drama between the India players and the two England openers. Amidst all of those, the tourists’ long-lasting lower-order collapse was overshadowed. At one point, they were 326/5 in 94 overs with both Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Reddy looking solid in the middle. But what happened next is the truly known story. They lost 5/61 in 25.2 overs at a run rate of less than three.
Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul scripted India’s dominant first session
Starting the day at 145/3, the first job for the overnight batters, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, was to survive the first 45 minutes. They did that brilliantly and extended the good work till the stroke of the lunch break. Pant nailed a few big shots despite his finger injury. One could sense his pain after he was taking his right hand off the blade after every powerful connection.
Meanwhile, Rahul was solid. He was playing the ball under his eyes and hardly gave any chances to the home bowlers. The Karnataka-born got the momentum in the 54th over. He nailed Brydon Crase for three successive boundaries. The first one was tucked at square leg, the second one was smashed through point, while the third one was timed crisply in the leg side.
Rahul, who never scored two red-ball centuries in a series, started the last over before lunch on 97. He smashed Shoaib Bashir’s short and wide ball straight to the sweeper. The plan of snatching a quick single put the curtains down on Pant’s aggressive knock of 74 runs at a strike rate of 66.07.
India added 103 runs in the 22.3 over session for the loss of one wicket. That was a dominant performance. They looked strong to gain a lead over the hosts by the end of the day.
Read More: ENG vs IND, 2025, 3rd Test, Day 3: Scores level on first innings; All results possible at Lord’s
India’s same old story of missed opportunities
Rahul eventually celebrated his century after the break. He took a new guard and lazily drove Bashir to get an outside edge into the hands of the slip fielder. Jadeja was joined by Reddy with the visitors 133 runs behind in the first innings.
It’s an old issue with the Saurashtra-born. He defends every ball and takes three-four steps as if he would be taking the run. Nitish, so early in his career, didn’t have an idea. There were several instances where England could have easily run one of these batters out. Fortunately, both survived.
Reddy and Jadeja took their time in the first hour of the second session. It wasn’t questionable given that they had lost two wickets in both ends of the break. But to continue the same progress even after getting set on a dry surface raised eyebrows. After Nitish’s dismissal, many predicted Washington Sundar would smash the big shots. He did but once in 40 balls.
There had been a period of wide and dry bowling from Stokes’ army, understandably so after the new ball was seen off. It was the best chance for the Blue Brigade to put their feet on the accelerator and bag runs against the tired bowlers. Even a 50-run lead can push an opposition onto the back foot.
But Jadeja tickled one down the leg side. With another untimely dismissal, India lost the plot. Sundar lacked the idea to bat with the tail. Akash Deep, having survived two LBW decisions, smashed Jofra Archer for a six before finding the slip fielder. There was a lack of plan from Sundar, who kept giving Jasprit Bumrah the strike on most occasions.
As expected, England targeted the number 10 and were able to demolish the visitors for 387. Just three hours ago, it seemed like India would earn a lead of over 70 runs by the end of the day. But, amidst all the drama, it is the home side who were ahead by two runs with all wickets in the locker.
If the batting coach of the Indian team is spending enough time with the tailenders in the nets it's definitely not reflecting the way they are playing. Indian batting tailenders are like Dobermann dog… without tail.
— Makarand Waingankar (@wmakarand) July 12, 2025
The game has slowly drifted away from India’s hands, and no one perhaps knows that. If England apply their aggressive brand of cricket and put a huge score on the board, the visitors will be under the pressure of the fourth-innings chase.
If Shubman’s troops go on to lose this fixture and later this series, then they will look back at this passage of play. They had a chance to gain a heavy lead over the home side, but their same old missed opportunities snatched the glory.
Read More: Why India struggle to mop up the tail in Tests?
