Rishabh Pant, despite being huge pain due to a finger injury, was courage personified as he kept England bowlers at bay during the first session. He regularly hit boundaries to complete his 17th Test half-century and it looked like India would go into Lunch without losing any wicket on Day 3 on Day 3 of the third Test at Lord's. However, it was not to be. On the third ball of the 66th over, Pant defended a delivery by Shoaib Bashir on the off-side and Stokes at cover point picked the ball and threw it towards the non-striker's end - all in one motion. With some hesitation from Pant to go for a run, the direct hit did catch him short of his crease, leading to him being dismissed for 74.
Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble was critical of Pant.
"I think initially Rishabh Pant called and then hesitated, thinking that there was no run. And then KL was off the blocks straight away. So Rishabh Pant's initial hesitation probably delayed his response. And then he had to take off because KL was just running straight through and on target. This was unnecessary, for sure, because you could have just blocked the next three balls, gone to lunch, and then do whatever you had to, or continued the great work that both these batters did in that first session," said Kumble on air.
"This wasn't needed. Joe Root had to wait for one night. He was on 99, he had to come back the next day. They had done so well; it was a fantastic partnership. It allowed England some confidence going into the second session."
Former India coach Ravi Shastri praised Stokes' presence of mind.
"It was phenomenal from Stokes. He understood Pant could be the man in danger in the spur of the moment, and he spun around and hit the stumps. That was fantastic cricket. Great presence of mind."
"There is an opening now for England to come back and regroup. If India had not lost a wicket in that session you go in and shoulders are down. There is some encouragement now to come back out refreshed and see if they can make further inroads. Rahul's job is to keep batting on," said Shastri on Sky Sports' broadcast.
Pant, due to his injury, has been replaced by Dhruv Jurel as the wicketkeeper.