Heading into day three of the 3rd Test between India and England at the Lord's Cricket Ground, the fixture remains at a knife's edge. Although Team India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early on, KL Rahul has scored a resolute half-century and is still at the crease but the tourists still trail by 242 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah's ripped out Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes in the first hour of day two, reducing the Englishmen from 251/4 to 271/7. Bumrah's fifer had highlighted India's bowling display but England's tail wagged as they reached 387 after half-centuries from Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse.
After Yashasvi Jaiswal's departure for 13, Rahul and Karun Nair counterattacked with a 61-run partnership but England took two more wickets to finish the day on a high. Ben Stokes and co. will be looking for further wickets on day three to ascend in the contest for a crucial series lead. Significantly, eyes will also be on Jofra Archer, whether or not he can maintain the same energy throughout the Test.
"When I played here earlier, the balls were not changed" - Jasprit Bumrah
Speaking at the post-day presser, Bumrah opened up on the much-debatable issue of ball change, claiming that the 2018 tour didn't see these many alterations. The Ahmedabad-born cricketer said during the presser:
"In 2018, when I had come here, the Dukes ball was consistently swinging and I was bowling the outswinger. I had consistently started bowling it here. The ball was moving around a lot more. When I played here earlier, the balls were not changed. They used to remain hard. It's dry summer and the wickets are hard, so the ball is going soft. I don't remember changing the Dukes ball earlier. That is definitely different this time. When the ball goes soft, it is easy for batting."
