ENG vs IND 2025: 'Jasprit Bumrah was the real star' - Sanjay Manjrekar on India's chase at Lord's

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar hailed Jasprit Bumrah as the "real star" of the ninth-wicket partnership with Ravindra Jadeja on Day 5 of the third Test of the ongoing five-match series between England and India. Jadeja and Bumrah put on 35 runs off 132 deliveries during their time in the middle.

While having complimented the manner in which Jadeja batted, Manjrekar felt Jadeja did not exhibit risk-taking attributes on a consistent basis. The ex-Indian cricketer, however, praised the resolve Bumrah displayed while in the middle against some high-quality fast bowling.   

“Ravindra Jadeja was batting well and defending resolutely, but it never looked like he was taking the kind of risks needed to help India win. He was playing a waiting game and hoping against hope. The real star in that partnership, though, was Jasprit Bumrah. He stayed out there for one hour and 40 minutes against high-quality fast bowling, facing bouncers, and it was remarkable to see how his net sessions with the bat finally paid off," stated Manjrekar while speaking on JioHotstar's ‘Follow The Blues’. 

The chase looked beyond reach: Manjrekar

Despite pointing out Jadeja's overly-measured mindset with the bat, Manjrekar was impressed with how he stuck in and kept one side of the batting end intact with his presence. 

"It’s heartening to see how much Jadeja trusts his defence these days. He plays long innings now, patient and with time on his side. The 70 runs he scored in the first innings were not a quickfire 70 — he batted for four hours. And on this pitch, scoring 50 felt like batting for 50 hours. But if you look at that moment when Jadeja brought up his half-century, the visuals from the Lord’s balcony did not look too positive. The energy from the dressing room said it all, it felt like the team knew that winning would be very difficult. Jadeja was trying, no doubt, but given the pitch, the conditions, and India’s scoring rate, the chase looked beyond reach," he added.

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India required 135 runs on the final day with six wickets in hand. Despite the required rate coming down below one per over from when the post-Lunch session got underway, it was always going to be an uphill task for the visitors. They lost by 22 runs after heroic efforts with the bat from Jadeja, Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj.