IND vs ENG: 'Huge lifeline for England' - Ex-England star on Rishabh Pant's run-out at Lord's

Former fast bowler Steve Harmison believes England received a massive lifeline in the ongoing third Test at Lord’s, courtesy of the moment of indecision that led to Rishabh Pant’s run-out just before lunch on Day 3.In the morning session, on the third ball of the 66th over, Pant tapped a delivery from Shoaib Bashir to the off-side. England captain Ben Stokes, positioned at cover point, pounced on the ball and, in one smooth motion, fired a direct hit at the non-striker’s end—catching Pant short of his crease and dismissing him for 74.

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“I look at this and go, wow, what a lifeline this is for England. It’s a huge lifeline. I thought England bowled really well in that first half an hour. KL Rahul played the way he does in a natural fashion.

The ball coming to him, taking what’s on offer. Made some beautiful shots square of the wicket for boundaries.“And Rishabh, I’ve stopped thinking about what is potentially going on inside that young man’s head. But it’s brilliant. It is so good to watch. And he has just made this game go a little bit fast-forward for India. So, I think England are just getting a massive, massive lifeline with that little bit of indecision with the runner,” said Harmison on JioHotstar.

Former India leg-spinner Anil Kumble also weighed in, calling Pant’s dismissal “totally needless.”“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.”Kumble underlined the importance of the 141-run stand between Pant and Rahul, which he felt had put India in control of the session before the run-out changed the momentum.“I thought India sort of blunted England’s attack. Initially, Jofra Archer obviously bowled sharp. And I thought it was a bit too predictable—the short bowling, especially to KL Rahul.

“And India just rode that phase comfortably and then started attacking after that 45 or 50-minute mark. And then I thought the last one hour certainly belonged to India. Literally every over was a boundary."And both these batters were absolutely comfortable with what was going on—until this indecision from Rishabh Pant. And he just hesitated that fraction of a second, and that cost him his wicket," he concluded.