Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has revealed the two moments in the Lord’s Test that tilted the scales in England’s favor. Shastri feels Rishabh Pant’s run out in the first innings and Karun Nair’s dismissal in the second innings were the crucial moments of the third Test, which India lost by 22 runs.
In the run-chase of 193, India was going strongly at 40-1 when Karun Nair decided to leave a straight ball. Nair was dismissed after scoring 14 and Shastri reckons that wicket opened the gate for England.
The former Indian all-rounder said Rishabh Pant’s run out was the turning point of the game. Pant was going strongly after scoring 74 runs when England captain Ben Stokes hit the bullseye to turn the match on its head. India were 248-3 before Pant’s dismissal, and his run-out ended a 141-run stand between him and KL Rahul.
“The turning point for me in this Test match was, first of all, Rishabh Pant’s dismissal (in first innings),” Shastri said on The ICC Review. “Ben Stokes…simply outstanding presence of mind to hit at the right end and pull it off on the stroke of lunch. Because India would have got a lead and they were in the driver’s seat.”
“Having said that, again at 40/1 (in the second innings), I thought that was a huge lapse in concentration from Karun Nair to leave a straight ball, a nothing ball, to leave it and open the door for England. I thought that the timing of that dismissal turned things around,” Shastri said.
Shastri said batting was easier when the ball turned soft after 40 overs, as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj collectively faced 84 balls.
“Because you saw when Siraj batted, when Bumrah batted, when Jadeja was batting, once the ball was 40 overs old, they hardly put a foot wrong. They were solid in defence and to bring that target down at lunch, 82 to get, you thought in the next 10 minutes it would be done and dusted. But to bring that 82 or 83 to 22 was a massive achievement,” Shastri said.
The former Indian coach said it could have been a different story if the top order had shown more resilience.
“So, it just goes to show that (if) the top order had just been a little tougher and mentally stronger on Day 4, towards the end, this game would have been India’s,” he added.
The fourth Test match between England and India will be played at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, from July 23 onwards.
