"Why is he bowling Nitish Kumar Reddy already?" - Former captain takes U-turn on Shubman Gill criticism during ENG vs IND 2025 3rd Test

Former England captain Michael Vaughan admitted questioning Team India skipper Shubman Gill's decision to bring Nitish Kumar Reddy into the attack in the 14th over of Day 1 of the third Test at Lord's. The unconventional ploy paid off as the all-rounder found some swing and dismissed both Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley in the space of three deliveries to reduce the hosts to 44-2.

With India having a stocked pace-bowling battery with three frontline seamers, the pace-bowling all-rounder in the playing XI has not had the opportunity to bowl with the new ball in the series so far. Both Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy had to operate with the old ball, with the latter bowling just six overs as the sixth bowler in the second Test at Edgbaston.

The all-rounder bowled a solid spell in the first session, and kept things tight after coming in as the change bowler in the second session as well. He finished Day 1 with figures of 2-46 off 14 overs.

Michael Vaughan revealed that he questioned Gill's decision while doing commentary, but labeled the call as a masterstroke at the end of the day's play.

"I would say throughout the day, it was probably Nitish Kumar Reddy that put Joe Root under more pressure than any of the bowlers. It was a masterstroke from Shubman Gill, because I was commentary and I was thinking,' Why is he bowling Nitish Kumar Reddy already?' So, that was a really good move, a tactical move," Vaughan said of Gill on Cricbuzz.

A massive reason why Shubman Gill needed his pace-bowling all-rounder to step up was because of the lack of impact by Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep on Day 1. Vaughan reckoned that the duo looked tired after their exploits in the second Test at Edgbaston.

"Siraj and Akash Deep, understandably, looked a bit tired. It was only a few days ago where they were charging at Edgbaston, and they are having to do it again," the former skipper said.

This is Siraj's third Test in a row, and given the fact that there was only a three-day break after the second Test, the pacer's workload has hit the limit. Following the first day at Lord's, he has now bowled 86.3 overs in the series already.

Akash Deep, on the other hand, had to pull off a marathon shift in the second innings at Edgbaston. The pacer bowled 41.1 overs across the two innings on a flat wicket that needed a lot of effort.

"Bazball was not possible on that surface" - Michael Vaughan defends England's defensive strategy against Shubman Gill and co.

With a run rate of 3.02, England produced an orthodox day of batting, which has not really been their go-to approach in the Bazball era. On a slow wicket and a strong bowling attack, the hosts decided not to be expansive, but instead looked to grind out the day.

Vaughan opined that the lack of pace and bounce on the pitch made it impossible to show aggression or to express genuine strokeplay.

"Bazball was not possible on that surface. Impossible to go out and play your strokes, impossible to play the cut, the pull. England realised that because their best player was out in the middle. The message from Root would have been to just bat," Vaughan said.

Vaughan opined that the Shubman Gill-led side could have tried to unsettle Joe Root with bouncers on a frequent basis.

"I look at the way India bowled to him, and I think could they have done anything different (against Root)? The only thing I think they could have tried, and it's tough on a slow wicket, is maybe a few more bouncers, that is the only thing I can say," he concluded.

Joe Root is unbeaten on 99 off 191 deliveries ahead of Day 2 of the Lord's Test. The ace batter scored only 36 runs off boundaries, with the rest coming from shrewd running between the wickets and impeccable placement.