B***s, Blood, Bazball, Ben Stokes: In Lord’s Dichotomy, Test Cricket Fought Back

India vs England: Jadeja fought, Stokes bled, Siraj broke down. But above all, Lord's wrote yet another Test epic.

India vs England, 3rd Test — B***s, Blood, Bazball, Ben Stokes: In Lord’s Dichotomy, Test Cricket Fought Back

(Photo: X)

Lord’s can be dichotomous. The universally venerated home of cricket is as pristinely opulent as it is steeped in gentlemanly decorum. Should you wish to sport a Marylebone Cricket Club blazer and call yourself a non-playing member, you will have to wait for nearly three decades. That is, after ticking off every criterion. It is everything that the sport is about.

And yet, it is also gloriously raucous. From its very balcony did Sourav Ganguly preach anti-restrain, reaching higher echelons of temerity when he did his best Salman Khan impression by going semi-naked, as two unknown and unassuming Indians pulled off a miraculous heist. It is everything that the sport is about.

The English were not too bewildered by what they saw. Quite the contrary, rather, as pacer Alex Tudor, who played in that match, later told The Cricket Monthly:

I couldn't care less! Emotions take over. Freddie did it, but no one said anything. You can't do it just because it's at Lord's? No, I am not brought up that way. It's karma and it's sport: you do something and it's going to come back to you. Only the fuddy-duddies and the politically correct people might have an issue with it.

Alex Tudor

Some called it audacity, some courage. The more Gen Z appropriate term might have been cojones. Or, in Shubman Gill’s preferred parlance, “b***s.”

What Started It All

The third Test between England and India at Lord’s embodied both faces of this hallowed ground. But to begin with the bit that the ‘fuddy-duddies’ and ‘politically correct’ might scoff at — the frictions that flickered at the end of Day 3.

Both England and India had accumulated identical scores in the first innings, and England were to bat for their second innings at the climax of the day. Ideally, India wanted to squeeze a couple of overs, but whilst Zak Crawley has not shown much repertoire in terms of his shots, he deployed a variety of tricks to ensure he only faces one over before stumps are called. Gill, livid, and understandably so, asked Crawley to ‘grow some b***s.’

Crawley wasn’t keen on being a mute spectator, and neither was Ben Duckett. A verbal exchange ensued, but that was all about that chapter, for both camps — KL Rahul from India and Ben Stokes from England — acknowledged that it was natural, considering the circumstances.

Gill commented:

There was heat, but it’s a part of the game. Both teams want to win, and emotions run high. But there’s admiration at the end of it. We gave everything, and so did they.

Shubman Gill

The Comedy That Is Tragedy

A couple of days later, on what was the sixth anniversary of England’s maiden ODI World Cup triumph — won at Lord’s — Crawley emerged as the epitome of chivalry. Chasing a target of 193 runs, India were inching closer steadily. From 147/9, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj had taken the score to 170/9. Victory was merely 22 runs away, and a 2-1 lead was visible on the horizon.

But tragedy strikes hardest when it has an element of comedy to it. Siraj, facing the penultimate delivery off the 75^th over, off off-spinner Shoaib Bashir’s bowling, did well to judge the line, length, and turn of the delivery.

Then, masterfully, he offered his bat in the most delicate of manners. Soft-handed defence, as coaches would call it. Except, as if by divine intervention, or as Stokes put it, written in the stars, the ball rolled back with precise accuracy to kiss the leg stump with just about enough force to gently dislodge a bail. There have been numerous jokes about scriptwriters in cricket thrillers, except, this did seem like as if it has been lifted from a movie plot.

Was Lord’s well-documented slope to be blamed? Can Dukes be held accountable? Did it have something to do with Siraj’s willow, or the fact that England always seem to find ways of winning if they play at Lord’s on 14 July (Hi, Martin Guptill)?

Such dismissals — albeit rare — are not complete rara avis in cricket. Ask India’s former Test skipper, Rohit Sharma, who might have still been a part of the team had it not been for one of such instances.

But the gravity of the situation, the close proximity to victory India found themselves in after hours of toil, and the importance of a Lord’s win — both in terms of historical context and that of the series in isolation — culminated to crush Siraj at the crease. Had there been a tunnel from the ground to the Marylebone station, he would have availed it with any hesitation.

Except, there wasn’t any, and Siraj — serving a 15% match fee deduction for shoulder barging Ben Duckett after dismissing the southpaw — could have done with any form of a consoling figure. He found one in — you couldn’t make this up — Zak Crawley.

Among the highlights of what ended up being a captivating Test was how the two facets of Lord’s, and the game in general, amalgamated for the greater good of cricket’s longest format.

Blood & Bark

In purely cricketing terms, plaudits must never stop for Ben Stokes, for he never did. The English skipper began his Day 5 with an unrelenting 10-over spell, before returning to pepper Jasprit Bumrah with consistent bouncers and eventually eliciting the ill-fated pull. Stokes’ socks turned red after the match, as blood dripped from his shoes. B***s — he has always had. In abundance.

I have taken myself to some pretty dark places before. But look, bowling to win a Test match, if that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what does. With what today was, what was on the line. Yesterday was a bit different. You know, there was still more cricket to be played. And, you know, pulled myself off there. I mean, to be honest, I was absolutely cooked as well. But again, today, you know, game was on the line. Nothing was stopping me.

Ben Stokes

The other English cricketer who did not conceal his emotions was Jofra Archer. In a fair world, he should have been in the same discourse as the Jasprit Bumrahs of the world. Or at least, that is what many thought when he picked up 22 wickets in his first four Test matches.

But the world is not fair — it never was. And Archer had only played 13 Tests ever since, before returning after four years, having recovered from a string of injuries. And he contributed to the team’s cause by knocking over Rishabh Pant’s stumps.

I was a little bit emotional. It was a long journey. I can't tell you the amount of keyboard warriors that I had to put up with for the last three to four years as well. I told myself that I was going to try my best not to be emotional and when Jaiswal nicked it, and it went to Brooky, I think all of that just went through the window. The joy, the whole crowd, the Long Room yesterday, I've never seen it like that ever in my life. So it's just moments like this that made the rehab all so much worth it.

Jofra Archer

Between b***s, Benjamin Andrew Stokes, Bashir bowling with a fractured finger and a bail’s cinematic fall, Lord’s cooked up a memorable Test.

The format fought back, as it always has. Will India do so, in Manchester?