ENG vs IND 2025: Lord’s pitch preview and stats of top-performing bowlers and batters.
After two flat surfaces in the first couple of Tests at Leeds and Edgbaston, the Lord’s surface is a curiosity for both England and India. A few pictures, through various media outlets, have given an expression of it being grassy, spicy, and bouncy. England’s head coach, Brendon McCullum, requested ‘pace and bounce’ from the MCC grounds men after the ‘subcontinent style’ Edgbaston surface.
After a brief spell of rain on Sunday (Jul 07), the sun has shown its full power in the lead up to the encounter. It will be a scorcher during the fixture with a temperature of over 30 degrees Celsius. Even the MCC had told their members of no requirement to wear jackets in the pavilion.
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Pacers could enjoy the Lord’s pace and bounce
In the last three Tests at this venue for India, they got different surfaces. In 2014, it was green as the ball was expected to seam and swing. But after the first couple of sessions, batting was a bit easier in the third one. They were incredibly poor with the bat in 2018 at this venue with failures to cross 150 in both innings.
The picture was a little different in 2021. It was a good surface where Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul negotiated the new ball pretty well before it got easy to bat. But throughout the fixture, it gave a balanced contest between the bat and ball.
The recent red-ball encounter at this venue occurred just four weeks ago during the WTC 2023-25 final. 14 wickets fell on each of the first two days, before only four for the third day. That means it tends to get better throughout the encounter.
There are two factors of the green surface. Under cloudy conditions, the pacers will get swing and seam movement in the air. But once the sun comes out, it’s only about the assistance off the deck. On the otherhand, the grass holds the surface pretty well, which is why it takes three-four days to break.
That’s a reason for the spinner’s struggle at this venue. Since January 2020, the fast bowlers have an average of nearly 25 while the spinners have an average of around 45.
In addition, there is the famous slope, which always has something from a bowler’s point of view. It runs from the pavilion end to the nursery end. So, when a fast bowler bowls down the slope, it takes the ball away from the right-handers. While from the pavilion end, the ball tends to jag back at the right-handers as it’s quite a smart tactic to target the stumps.
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England will miss Gus Atkinson at Lord’s
The home side announced Jofra Archer’s return for the fixture as the only change. They will miss Gus Atkinson with both bat and ball. The right-arm pacer picked up 19 wickets in two games at this venue besides celebrating his maiden first-class hundred against Sri Lanka.
Here are the players with the most wickets and runs at Lord’s since the beginning of 2020.
For India, Lord’s is the most successful Test venue in England. In 19 games, they have three victories and four draws at a win-loss ratio of 0.250.
Jasprit Bumrah, their premier pacer, picked up three wickets during the 2021 Test at this ground. Mohammed Siraj bagged eight scalps in the same game. And Akash Deep is coming off a ten-wicket haul in the previous clash.
The series is poised nicely at a 1-1 margin. For the visitors, the batters are confident after their dominance in the first two encounters. Now, it’s up to them to set a good total on the board if the ball nips around in the morning. Both openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, will have a huge task on their hands. India made a fine comeback at Edgbaston. Now, it’s time to punch the lead.
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