India’s bowlers showed control on Day 1 of the Lord’s Test, keeping England in check despite a late partnership. Nitish Kumar Reddy impressed with two wickets, Bumrah struck on return, and an injury to Rishabh Pant added a twist to the day’s play.

The opening of the Lord’s Test between England and India was marked by disciplined Indian bowling despite Joe Root and Ben Stokes putting the hosts in the driver's seat in London on Thursday, July 10.

At Day 1 stumps, England posted a total of 251/4 after 83 overs, with Root and Stokes batting on 99 and 39, along with their 79-run unbeaten stand for the fifth wicket, which rescued the hosts from early wickets and slightly tilted the momentum in their favour heading into Day 2.

On that note, let’s take a look at India’s campaign on Day 1 of the third Test at Lord’s:

When the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, and Mohammed Siraj struggled to take a wicket, the seam bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy provided two breakthroughs for Team India. Nitish Reddy retained his place in the playing XI despite a lacklustre performance with the bat and wicketless first innings of the Edgbaston Test. However, the 22-year-old stepped up for the side when he was needed.

Nitish Kumar Reddy drew the first blood by dismissing Ben Duckett (23) at 43/1 in the 13th over. In the same over, the seamer removed Zak Crawley (18) at 44/2. These two wickets put England on the back foot after the dismissed openers showed some resistance in the opening hour of Day 1 of the Lord’s Test.

Amid the opening day of the Lord’s Test, there was an injury scare from India as Rishabh Pant was hit on his fingertips in the second session of the day’s play. The incident took place in the 33rd over when Pant attempted to gather the ball after a missed flick shot by Ollie Pope off Jasprit Bumrah’s angling down the leg delivery.

However, the ball hit the fingertips, and he called on a physiotherapist for medical treatment and had his finger heavily strapped. Rishabh Pant completed the over before walking off the field and Dhruv Jurel stepped in to keep the wickets. As per the statement by BCCI, vice-captain suffered an injury on his index finger and his currently under the supervision of the medical team.

Jasprit Bumrah made his return to the playing XI for the Lord’s Test after being rested for the second Test at Edgbaston. Bumrah was given a rest for the Edgbaston Test to manage his workload. In his absence, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep delivered a sensational performance to seal Team India a historic Test victory by 336 runs in Birmingham.

After two weeks of rest, Bumrah returned to the team by replacing Prasidh Krishna. After toiling hard for 15 overs, Jasprit Bumrah finally managed to take a wicket in the 16th over by bowling out Harry Brook for 11 at 172/4, giving Team India yet another breakthrough after Ollie Pope and Joe Root regained England’s momentum after two early wickets.

Mohammed Siraj is not only known for his bowling brilliance, especially his swinging delivery, but also for his on-field aggression and fiery attitude, traits similar to Virat Kohli, which were on display during the opening day of the Lord’s Test. Siraj tried to mock Joe Root for not adapting to ultra-aggressive approach, which is popularly known as ‘Bazball’.

After two early wickets of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, England batters, Ollie Pope and Joe Root, were absorbing the pressure and resorted to playing orthodox style rather than going for an ultra-aggressive mode to steady the hosts’ innings. Since Pope and Root prevented themselves from playing attacking cricket, Mohammed Siraj teased them by saying, ‘Baz Baz Bazball, I want to see’

The disciplined bowling by Indian bowlers was on display as England batters were forced out of their usual aggressive ‘Bazball’ mindset and asserted control across all three sessions. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and Nitish Kumar Reddy picked wickets while hile maintaining tight lines and lengths. Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, and Washington Sundar might not have taken but managed to put England under pressure.

Their disciplined bowling prevented England from going for an aggressive approach after opting to bat first and ensured that scoring opportunities were limited, helping India dominate the tempo of the game. Indian bowlers kept England’s scoring rate under control as they were batting at a run rate of 3.02 in 83 overs.