'India's bowling attack is superior to England...': Mohammmad Azharuddin's massive claim as Jasprit Bumrah returns to playing XI for Lord's Test

Both India and England made a change each to their respective playing XI s for the third Test at Lord's. While the hosts brought in Jofra Archer for Josh Tongue, the visitors replaced Prasidh Krishna with Jasprit Bumrah, who had been rested for the second Test at Edgbaston.

Notably, Bumrah was the highest wicket-taker for India in the first Test at Headingley. The pace spearhead took a brilliant five-wicket-haul and even though he ended up going wicket-less in the all-important second inning where England chased down the target of 371, he still was the only Indian bowler who constantly troubled the opposing batters at the crease.

Azharuddin made a big claim following Bumrah's return into playing XI

With Bumrah making a return to the playing XI for third Test, former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin believes that the Men in Blue's bowling attack is stronger in comparison to that of England's bowling contingent. Even without the services of Bumrah in the second Test, the visitors gave a fantastic bowling performance with Akash Deep recording a 10-wicket-haul in the match and Mohammed Siraj also contributing well with seven scalps. Regardless, the 31-year-old speedster's return will only strengthen India's bowling attack even more.

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“They played well in Birmingham. With that confidence, the team must be well settled... When Bumrah comes in, it will be great for the team... Our bowling attack is currently superior to England's. I wish the team the very best and hope they come out as the winner,” Azharuddin told ANI.

Meanwhile, after winning the toss in the first Test, England captain Ben Stokes opted to bat first. Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett made a decent start, however Nitish Kumar Reddy became an unlikely hero for India and dismissed both the batters in the same over to restrict them to 44/2 after 14 overs.

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A 39-run stand between Ollie Pope and Joe Root provided some much-needed stability to the hosts by the end of the first session and theywent into the break on 83/2. It will be interesting to see if Pope and Root manage to form a massive stand and get England into a strong position or if India's bowling attack fights back and picks up key wickets in short intervals to put the hosts under a lot of pressure on Day 1 itself.