I believe England are 70% favorites to win the Lord’s Test: Sanjay Manjrekar

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar feels the ongoing Lord’s Test is now tilted in favour of the England cricket team, led by Ben Stokes, as they require six more wickets to win the contest and take a 2-1 lead over the visitors.

Advertisment

At stumps on Day 4, India lost four quick wickets, scoring only 58 runs in 17.4 overs, with 135 more runs required to win the encounter. Interestingly, captain Shubman Gill couldn’t replicate his Birmingham heroics as he fell for only six runs in the fourth innings.

"Yesterday, I firmly believed that there was no way India could lose this match. The only loser possible was England, and a drawn scenario. But I believe now England are the favorites. I would say 70-30 in England's favor, only because this ball is still hard and new. We saw what happened in that morning session when India bowled on that pitch. This pitch reacts to the new ball,” Sanjay Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.

Furthermore, Manjrekar added that if England brings in the injured spinner Shoaib Bashir into the gameplay, India might have a chance of chasing down the target on the fifth and final day’s play. Interestingly, Rishabh Pant is yet to come out to bat with KL Rahul batting on an unbeaten 33.

Advertisment

"If England are forced to go to Shoaib Bashir, it means India is winning the game. That will happen only if Pant and KL Rahul bat out of their skins. I only worry with one aspect. Because this young batting line-up has done so much of batting, the mental reserves of their batting has been tapped into so heavily, this effort is going to be a mental effort.

"The target is small, so there will be a huge temptation to take the additional risk. I just want India to grind away and get to the target," the former batter concluded.

Stay updated with the latest cricket news, match insights, and exclusive updates at Sky247 India and download the Sky247 app to start betting today!