ENG vs IND 2025: 'India missed a trick' - Anil Kumble weighs in on Ravindra Jadeja's bowling at Lord's

Former Indian cricketer Anil Kumble was of the opinion that the opening day of the third Test of the ongoing five-match Test series between England and India ended on level terms for both teams. The hosts ended up posting 251/4 in 83 overs after they won the toss and opted to bat first.

Kumble felt that while India bowled with impressive discipline and were successful in curtailing the flow of runs, the Ben Stokes-led outfit did well to lose only four wickets.

"It was evident right from the start that it was going to be a grind for the batters. The openers struggled to score off the new ball, and this was the kind of pitch where you had to work hard for your runs. I thought the Indian bowlers bowled really good areas consistently — that’s one of the reasons India managed to restrict England to 251. England will be fairly satisfied with just four wickets down," shared Kumble while speaking on JioHotstar's ‘Match Centre Live’. 

However, Kumble felt Ravindra Jadeja was not utilised as effectively as he could have been.

"I do think India missed a trick after Jadeja got that breakthrough — I was surprised he didn’t continue bowling to Ben Stokes and changed ends instead. India will probably reflect tonight and feel that one or two more wickets could have put the match firmly in their favour. As it stands, it's evenly poised,” added Kumble.

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Out of the four wickets which India secured on the first day, Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/46 in 12 overs) picked up a couple with Jadeja (1/26 in 10 overs) and Jasprit Bumrah (1/35 in 18 overs) sharing one wicket apiece. Joe Root and Ben Stokes were the two batters who were unbeaten at Stumps. Both of them scored 99* off 191 and 39* off 102, respectively.