India skipper Shubman Gill was in the mood to play a little bit of mind games with the England batters on the opening day of the 3rd Test on Thursday when he poked fun at the hosts’ slow run rate which is totally opposite to their Bazball approach. England lost two quick wickets of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley and went inside a shell as they brought up their 100 in 35.4 overs, their slowest in a home Test.
“No more entertaining cricket. Welcome back to the boring Test cricket, boys,” Gill sarcastically shouted as England’s run rate went down to under 3 at that juncture. They have since recovered with Joe Root scoring a 50 but their run rate is still a cause for concern, hovering around 3 per over.
Earlier, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy struck twice in an eventful over to leave England at 83 for two at lunch. On expected lines, Prasidh Krishna made way for Jasprit Bumrah as the sole change in the Indian playing eleven. Ben Stokes, only for the second time in the Bazball era, opted to bat in a home game.
#ShubmanGill, with the most sarcastic sledge of the season kyunki ye seekhne nahi, sikhane aaye hain 😎
“Welcome to Boring Test Cricket.” 🫢💭
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— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 10, 2025
The trio of Bumrah, Akash Deep and Mohamed Siraj did ask a few questions but England opening duo of Ben Duckett (23 off 40) and Zak Crawley (18 off 43) survived the first hour of play, reaching 39 for no loss in 13 overs. Due to the unique slope, the Indian bowlers understandably took some time to get used to the up and down nature of the ground while running in.
Bumrah bowled from both Pavillion End and Nursery End while Akash Deep, who took a match haul of 10 at Edgbaston, bowled with the new ball from Nursery End.
Captain Gill could have brought back Akash Deep after the first hour, instead he gave the ball to Reddy from the Nursery End and he did not disappoint. The first breakthrough was a rather lucky one with Duckett gloving a short ball on the leg side to wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant.
Ollie Pope could have been dismissed in the very next ball but Gill could not latch on to a tough chance at gully.
The last ball of the over produced the wicket of Crawley. It was a beauty that seamed away from length, inducing an outside edge on the way to the keeper.
(With agency inputs)
