A test of technique and temperament await Indian batters at Lord's

A test of technique and temperament await the relatively inexperienced Indian batting line-up on the fifth and final day of the 3rd test cricket at Lord’s in the current five-test series. Indian hopes rest on the Karnataka opener, K.L. Rahul, playing a sheet-anchor role in the circumstances. Rahul was unbeaten on 33 at sumps on the fourth day.

While the target of 135 looks attainable with the promise of a full day’s play uninterrupted by rain, it is in fact an uphill task and the Indian batters will have to overcome their relative inexperience to score the required runs to take a 2-1 lead in what is proving to be a pulsating encounter in the 2025-27 cycle of the World Test Championship.

India lost four quick wickets including that of the skipper Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

After the two sides were on absolute equal terms, following both scoring 387 in their first innings, the match boiled down to a second innings shootout. On the fourth day – on a pitched which had developed uneven bounce - England’s wickets fell at regular intervals. No batter looked settled, though their premier campaigner, Joe Root, battled to 40 runs before being bowled around the legs by an armer from Washington Sundar, as he attempted a sweep.

England were ultimately dismissed for 192, with Sundar with his off-spin finishing with figures of four for 22. Quite remarkably, all his victims were clean bowled.

Of course, it was Mohammed Siraj who started the slide when he captured the first two wickets – Ben Duckett mistiming a hook to be caught at mid-on and Ollie Pope being adjudged leg before wicket on review.

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Zak Crawley and Harry Brook recklessly threw their bats bazball style and paid the penalty. Root, joined by skipper Ben Stokes, reverted to conventional cricket to realise 67 runs for the fifth wicket – the best partnership of the England venture.

After Root’s departure, Sundar removed the dangerous Jamie Smith cheaply, uprooting his stumps with another arm ball. Smith had posed a headache to the Indian bowlers in the previous test at Edgbaston and in England’s first outing in this match with his attacking batsmanship. Thereafter, Jasprit Bumrah, who was unlucky not to be among the wickets earlier, proved to be a handful for the tail.

Yashasvi Jaiswal again disappointed, becoming a scalp for Jofra Archer for the second time in the game. This time he skied a hook, as the ball bounced higher than he had expected, to be comfortably caught behind. This was even before the benefit of the roller had receded. The young left-hander’s inclination to be aggressive from the very outset, has fetched mixed results on this tour so far.  

Rahul was fortunate to be dropped off his own bowling by the medium-paced new ball bowler Chris Woakes when he was only five. While there are still four other recognised batsmen at India’s disposal – Rishabh Pant, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja and Sundar - Rahul being the most seasoned of the Indian exponents with the bat, his continued presence at the crease will be crucial to the outcome of the test.  

Today’s Indian batsmen, fed on a surfeit of flat pitches in limited overs cricket, are less familiar with worn out fifth day wickets, which generally generate unpredictable bounce and movement. For them, it’s uncharted territory; thus an examination of their skill, their ability to defend, to play with soft hands and their application. It will be highly commendable, if they overcome the exposure to fire.