ENG vs IND 2025: ‘He looked like India’s best seamer’ – Sanjay Manjrekar’s bold claim after opening day of Lord’s Test

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar felt Nitish Kumar Reddy was the pick of the Indian fast bowlers on Day 1 of the third Test of the ongoing five-match series between England and India. Nitish’s figures read 2/46 in 14 overs at the end of the opening day’s play.

Manjrekar wished that Reddy would be successful in transferring the confidence gained from bowling into his batting after a lackluster outing in the previous game.

“He was lucky with Ben Duckett, but just those two wickets is not an indication of how Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled right through the day. He almost looked like India’s best seam bowler, and that’s saying something when you have Siraj, Akash Deep, and Bumrah,” stated Manjrekar on ESPNcricinfo.

“I’m hoping that it (double strike) instills some confidence in his batting, because I think there is something there in his batting. Twin failures in the last Test never helps somebody who is looking for self-confidence as a batter. What he did was quite simple, he bowled within his limitations, and it’s not like he has got a huge range. So, he just stuck to what he does best,” added Manjrekar.

Reddy’s wickets were Ben Duckett (23 off 40) and Zak Crawley (18 off 43). While Duckett’s dismissal was a strangle down the leg side, Crawley’s wicket was off a beautiful delivery which swung late and straightened off the pitch to take the outside edge of the bat.

The ongoing game marked the first time India bowled first in the series. The hosts ended the day on 251/4 in 83 overs, with Joe Root (99 off 191) and Ben Stokes (39 off 102) unbeaten in the middle. Jasprit Bumrah (1/35 in 18 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/26 in 10 overs) were amongst the wickets other than Reddy.

The hosts would be aiming to take the remaining wickets quickly on Day 2. The overall nature of the wicket was on the slowish side. There was some amount of variable bounce observed too, with quite a lot of balls not carrying properly to the wicketkeeper.