"It wasn't a proud moment" - Jofra Archer breaks silence on aggressive sendoff to Rishabh Pant in ENG vs IND 2025 3rd Test

England pacer Jofra Archer opened up about his aggressive send-off to Rishabh Pant after castling him in the second innings on Day 5 of the third Test at Lord's. The speedster sent the southpaw's off-stump wheeling away as he got one to just nip away after pitching to seal the hosts' first breakthrough in the crucial first innings.

Team India's hopes in the run chase were largely pinned on KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. The wicket-keeper came out to bat at the start of the day, with the overnight score reading 58-4. He was batting with discomfort, following the injury to his finger in the initial stages of the match.

Pant scored a boundary off Archer's bowling in the early stages after being gifted a stray delivery down the leg side. He pulled off another dominant boundary, charging him and smashing it straight down the ground midway through the 21st over. Just a couple of deliveries later, Archer replied with a peach of a delivery that sent the wicket-keeper batter back.

Just as Pant was making his walk towards the pavilion, the England pacer charged towards him during his follow-through and dished out a few words, before celebrating with his teammates.

"It wasn't a proud moment [sendoff to Rishabh Pant]. I just told him to charge that moment. He came down the track and that annoyed me a little bit so when the ball nipped down the slope, I was so grateful for that," Archer said on Sky Sports after England's win on Day 5 (via India Today).

Rishabh Pant was dismissed for nine runs off 12 deliveries, and his dismissal left India at 71-5, and they proceeded to collapse further to 84-7 in the first session on Day 5.

"When we go to other places, some teams aren't as nice to us as we are to them" - Jofra Archer on England's on-field aggression in ENG vs IND 2025 3rd Test

The third Test at Lord's between India and England will be remembered for several reasons, on of them being the heated moments among the players. At the end of Day 3, Shubman Gill was involved in an altercation with Zak Crawley regarding time-wasting. Whereas on Day 4, Mohammed Siraj's aggressive celebration after dismissing Ben Duckett, led to him being fined 15 per cent of his match fees.

On Day 5, England fought back with aggression of their own as Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer were constantly sledging the batters. Pacer Brydon Carse was also involved in an altercation with Ravindra Jadeja following a mid-pitch collision.

Archer revealed that the decision to be more aggressive was a conscious effort after the events that had unfolded earlier in the Test.

"No, it was a collective effort, to be honest. I think we all came together as a group yesterday and say we're a bit too nice. When we go to other places, some teams aren't as nice to us as we are to them. So, I guess we just try to shift it and who knows, I don't know if that's the reason that helped us give us that extra buzz today in the field. I don't know. But we will definitely keep that one in the bank for the future," said Archer.

The speedster finished with five wickets on his Test match return after four years. He accounted for the key dismissals of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, and Washington Sundar in the second innings as India were bowled out for 170.