London [UK], July 9 : The Indian pace superstar Jasprit Bumrah is back ahead of the third Test at Lord's, bowling his heart out in the nets and also had some fun banter with bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who is known as "Lord Thakur" within his teammates and fans alike for some brilliant performances with the bat and breaking partnerships with the ball.
The match at Lord's will start on Thursday. India has won two of their Lord's fixtures in their past three tours. India won in 2014 under MS Dhoni's captaincy, followed by a memorable win in the 2021-22 series by the team led by Virat Kohli. With the series 1-1 each following a historic 336-run win at Edgbaston, and Bumrah coming back into the side after missing that match owing to workload management, the morale heading into the match would be no doubt sky high.
In a video by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on their X handle, Bumrah was seen bowling full tilt during the nets session.
https://x.com/BCCI/status/1942906346766205064
In between, he decided to have some fun, joking about "Lord Thakur" being present at Lord's.
"Yeah dekho, Lord's, Lord (pointing at Shardul)," said Bumrah as the bowling all-rounder jokingly touched his feet.
"Tab hi Jasprit Bumrah ke pair padne padte hai," Thakur said.
"Ye inka (Thakur) badappan hai (This is his generosity). Mai inke sath khada hua, wahi mai jeet gaya (I am standing near him, I have won here itself)," Bumrah expanded on the "Lord Thakur" joke hilariously.
Following India's win at Edgbaston, skipper Shubman Gill confirmed that the Lord's Test would be Bumrah's second out of the third Test match on the tour.
In the first Test, Bumrah had to handle a heavy workload, with his much-inexperienced counterparts leaking too many runs. He bowled almost 44 overs throughout the match and took a five-wicket haul in the first innings, including that of Root. In the second innings, while defending 371 runs, he went wicketless despite his best efforts.