Michael Vaughan admits he made a mistake in criticising Shubman Gill for bringing Nitish Kumar Reddy into the attack as early as the 14th over on Day 1 of the third Test at Lords. The former England captain corrected his opinion, stating that it was a tactical masterstroke by India’s newly appointed Test captain.

Reddy removed England’s openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett in his first over. Vaughan was more pleased by the Hyderabad all-rounder, who regularly troubled Joe Root throughout the day.

“Throughout the day, I believe Nitish Kumar Reddy put more pressure on Joe Root than any of the other bowlers. Shubman Gill pulled off a masterstroke, when I was commentating and wondering, “Why is he already bowling Nitish Kumar Reddy?” So that was a pretty clever, tactical play,” Vaughan remarked of Gill.

Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep, according to Vaughan, were exhausted after bowling hard in the Edgbaston Test, which ended only four days ago.

“Siraj and Akash Deep, unsurprisingly, appeared exhausted. “They were charging at Edgbaston only a few days ago, and now they have to do it again,” observed the former captain.

Bazball was not possible on that surface: Michael Vaughan

England’s run rate on Day 1 of the Lord’s Test was just 3.02 as they reached 251/4 in 83 overs. They had ditched their usual ultra-aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach and played watchfully throughout the day. Vaughan said that the pitch wasn’t conducive to Bazball cricket.

“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 praised Root, who remained unbeaten on 99. The cricketer-turned-expert mentioned that the pitch was on the slower side, but still, India could have tried a few bouncers to the veteran batter.

“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.