After getting bundled out for 271 in the final innings of the second Test against India, the England batters took the field once again on the first day of the Lord's Test. However, rather than continuing with their ultra-aggressive 'Bazball' style of batting, they adopted a cautious approach this time around.
Both Crawley and Duckett lost their wickets in the same over
Following the loss of openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett both in the 14th over to Nitish Kumar Reddy, the duo of Ollie Pope and Joe Root formed formed a brilliant partnership as they frustrated the Indian bowlers, maintaining an incredibly slow run-rate of 2.95. Notably, this is just the second time in Bazball era where the Three Lions have scored at a rate of less than three runs per over.
Coincidentally, the previous instance also came at Lord's where the hosts scored just 112 runs in 40 overs against New Zealand. Seeing England batters scoring runs at a very slow rate, India captain Shubman Gill decided to take a dig on the duo of Root and Pope. In a video which is making rounds on social media, Gill can be seen calling England's brand of cricket as 'boring' while trying to encourage his team.
"No more entertaining cricket. Welcome to boring Test cricket, boys," Gill can be heard saying in the video.
Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja took the massive wicket of Pope on the first ball of the third session, breaking the batter's 109-run stand with Root. Following this, Jasprit Bumrah would get his first wicket of the match in the form of Harry Brook. The batter departed after scoring just 11 runs, leaving the hosts in a spot of bother on 172/4. It remains to be seen if the Indian bowlers will continue picking up wickets and reduce England to a low first-inning total or if Root will lead the hosts to a massive score.