Overdependency is both a blessing and a bane. You take examples from other sports. For Argentina, Lionel Messi rides everything. He leads in every metric and his teammates do the dirty work for him. Without Messi, the Argentina team might not even make it to the semi-finals of a FIFA World Cup. With him, they are playing their second consecutive final. There’d be no surprises as well if he takes La Albiceleste to another improbable win as well on Sunday night.
Catch IND vs ENG 3rd ODI live Blog here.
India too much Jasprit Bumrah-dependent
In cricket, overdependency can be easily seen when you look at the Indian cricket team. What Messi is to Argentina, Jasprit Bumrah is equivalent to India. You may love the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma or Shubman Gill. But without Bumrah, the Indian team losses half of its effectiveness. Without the modern-day great, there’s no wicket-taker available for the Men in Blue.
We saw in the T20 format first. India lose to a C-team of Ireland before getting whacked by England 4-0. In that series India lost its pride, confidence and the huge tag of being the number one T20I side. Largely, the team was the same as what played at the T20 World Cup 2026. The difference was Jasprit Bumrah, who will now be kept away from the format since the priority is ODI cricket.
But even in 50-over cricket, the overdependency was as clear as crystal. In the first two games that Bumrah played, he was the best Indian bowler. He may not have as many wickets to show for it, but he was making the ball talk. Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook all decided to remain quiet against him. Due to this, chances were created at other ends for pacers like Gurnoor Brar and Prasidh Krishna..
Ordinary pace performance by Arshdeep and co.
Now, when Bumrah got an untimely knee injury to face, Indian bowlers looked absolutely toothless. In the third ODI, the Lord’s surface provided a simple task for the Indian pacers. With the downward slop from one end, the iconic ground gives something to bowl at for the pacers. Before the match began, ODIs at Lord’s saw pacers take 58 wickets in last five matches as compared to 29 by spinners. Due to the slope factor, pacers find extra bounce from one end and a tad bit more swing from the other.
But on Sunday, the Indian bowling attack that was without Bumrah simply looked like ordinary pacers. Arshdeep Singh, who relishes bowling on such surfaces, started well. He was right on the money as far as length is concered but failed to generate swing when Ben Duckett and Bethell started to attack. Prasidh Krishna took the new ball from the other end and he took his time. He was bowling too full at the start, totally not what was wanted. Bethell was hesitant early on. But the pace duo failed to create any major chance.
How England bossed toothless India
Then, when the two young pacers came on, the English pair started to go gung-ho. It was one of those days where everything India tried just went wrong, and England made sure to punish every single mistake. Too short, too wide, too easy to get away with.
From the outside, you could sense that this English opening duo will rule the roost and that’s what happened. They just waited, and the runs came. Duckett and Bethell put on 192, then Duckett and Root completed a century partnership again. That’s only the second time England have had 100-plus for the first two wickets against India in an ODI. The last time was Pune in 2021.
Highest Team Totals in Men’s ODIs at Lord’s
| Team | Score | RPO | Opposition | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 387/3 | 7.74 | India | 19 Jul 2026 |
| England | 334/4 | 5.56 | India | 7 Jun 1975 |
| South Africa | 330/8 | 6.60 | England | 4 Sep 2025 |
| England | 328/6 | 6.56 | Ireland | 7 May 2017 |
| India | 326/8 | 6.58 | England | 13 Jul 2002 |
Despite having two talented young pacers in Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav, India’s attack had no answers. You could see that the lack of experience in bowling in these conditions cost India.
By halfway it was 163 for none. When Bethell finally holed out for 91, Duckett just kept going and made 141, the highest ODI score at Lord’s. Root kept doing Root things too. He has six 50-plus scores in a row now and hasn’t been dismissed in his last four innings.
Then Jos Buttler walked in and gave the innings what one thing it was missing: a blistering cameo. He made 41 off 12 and 82 runs came off the last five overs. 62 off the last three. England ended on 387 for 3. Look at the damage. 126 runs in overs 41 to 50. That’s the third most ever conceded by India in that phase. And five Indian bowlers went for 60 plus. Arshdeep, Prasidh, Prince, Brar, Axar. Brar finished 0 for 97. Plus 26 extras. It was flat, it was toothless, and it was expensive. England batted like they were in a training session. India bowled like they wanted the day to end
Most Expensive Bowling Figures by an Indian in Men’s ODIs
| Rank | Bowling Figures | Bowler | Opposition | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1/106 (10) | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | South Africa | Wankhede | 2015 |
| 2 | 1/102 (9) | Vinay Kumar | Australia | Bengaluru | 2013 |
| 3 | 0/97 (10) | Gurnoor Brar | England | Lord’s | 2026 |
| 4 | 1/92 (10) | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | New Zealand | Kanpur | 2017 |
Note: Gurnoor Brar’s 0/97 is the most expensive bowling spell in ODI history at Lord’s, surpassing Karsan Ghavri’s 0/81 in 11 overs against England in 1975.
Cricket
Tilak Varma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi problem! Mistakes Iyer's India can't repeat vs Zimbabwe
