"They might have got it a little wrong"- Former India coach questions Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Reddy's mindset on Day 5 of ENG vs IND 2025 3rd Test

Former India coach Ravi Shastri criticized the approach adopted by Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy on Day 5 of the third England versus India Test at Lord's on Monday, July 14. The 63-year-old felt that one of the batters had to attack once the stand had crossed the 15-20 run mark.

The duo joined forces when India were 82-7 and put on 30 runs for the eighth wicket before Reddy fell to Chris Woakes for 13 at the stroke of lunch. But those runs came in 89 balls, which meant the hosts were never under pressure of a counter-attack from them. Speaking to Sky Sports, Shastri said:

"I just thought tactically they might have got it a little wrong. I just felt once they had spent a little time at the crease, the partnership was 15-20 one guy should have gone. (Nitish Kumar) Reddy or (Ravindra) Jadeja should have looked to attack and just try and put the pressure back on England, try and bring down the deficit to about 60 and then take it 10 runs at a time".

Shastri praised England for their bowling performance and specifically lauded Ben Stokes' exploits with the ball. He felt that it became clear for the all-rounder to take the ball on Day 5 after he had dismissed Akash Deep late on Day 4.

"But England (were) superb. We said yesterday from England's point of view it worked the best that (Ben) Stokes got the wicket with three balls left or two balls left. Means he didn't have to think whether to start bowling this morning or not. He had to bowl.

"Once he bowled, that spell was important. Right combination. Pace at one end and Stokes at the other end, who gave nothing away. Double whammy as far as England were concerned," Shastri added.

England begin quest for two wickets after lunch to go 2-1 up in the series

England began their quest to take the remaining two wickets in the post-lunch session after taking four wickets in the opening session of play on Day 5. Jasprit Bumrah joined Ravindra Jadeja in the middle as India tried to frustrate the hosts to delay the inevitable.

The southpaw has been in good batting form in the ongoing series and made 72 runs in the first innings. But he has a herculean task on his hands to play with Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to try and knock off the runs on the final day. At the time of writing, India were 124/8, still 69 runs away from victory.