India captain Shubman Gill on Monday showed off his Telugu-speaking skills while applauding Nitish Kumar Reddy for his sensational spell on Day 1 of the third Test at Lord’s. The standout moment came in the 16th over, with Nitish bowling to Joe Root. The former England captain danced down the track to attack, but the ball bounced awkwardly, catching Root off guard. The Indian camp erupted in applause — with Gill at the forefront, enthusiastically cheering the young all-rounder.Gill said: “Bagundi ra mawa (Well done, man).” Much of the pre-match talk had focused on the return of Bumrah, the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, after he was rested for India’s 336-run thrashing of England at Edgbaston last week that levelled the five-match series at 1-1.But it was Reddy, the fourth seamer deployed by India captain Shubman Gill on Thursday, who broke through.With his third ball, he had left-hander Duckett (23) well caught down the legside by diving wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant off a gloved pull.Next ball, the often skittish Pope almost fell for a duck when he threw his bat at an outswinger, with Gill just unable to hold a tough chance low to his right in the gully.
But Reddy still transformed England’s 43-1 into 44-2 with the last ball of the 14th over as Crawley fell for 18.A superb full-length delivery swung late and straightened off the pitch before taking the outside edge of Crawley’s bat to give Pant a simple catch.Earlier England captain Ben Stokes, criticised for opting to field at Edgbaston, decided to bat first after winning the toss in sunny conditions.
