Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri believes that Rishabh Pant’s dismissal in the first innings was the turning point in the team’s 22-run loss to England at Lord’s in the third game of the five-match series earlier this week.”The turning point for me in this Test match was, first of all, Rishabh Pant’s dismissal (in the first innings),” Shastri said on ‘The ICC Review’.
Shastri hailed Ben Stokes’ role in effecting that dismissal, alongside his impressive bowling exploits in the second essay of the Indian batting too.
“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,” he added.Shastri also lashed out at Karun Nair’s lapse of concentration that led to Brydon Carse dismissing him leg before wicket on the fourth day of the Test match.”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.”
The seasoned broadcaster demanded greater prudence from the Indian top-order whilst chasing down the eventual target in the fourth innings.”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.”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.Shastri said India has the wherewithal to bounce back into the series, but rued the fact that the visitors would have been up 3-0 had the rub of green gone their way.”It (the Lord’s Test) reminded me so much of the Test match in 2021 (at the Lord’s when Shastri was the head coach). Only on that occasion, it was India who batted first. Scores were very similar, 300, 300 and then a collapse in the second innings. At that time, India won.” This time it was England.”But a fascinating series and two more to go. Anything can happen. India can bounce back straight away and if that happens, The Oval (final Test) will be a thriller,” he noted.(With PTI inputs)First Published: Jul 19, 2025 5:20 PM IST
