Nitish Kumar Reddy couldn’t have hoped for a better start to his first Test at Lord’s. Playing just his second red-ball match on English soil, the 21-year-old pacer made an instant impact by taking two wickets in his very first over—matching a rare feat last achieved by Irfan Pathan in 2006.
Pathan had famously taken a hat-trick in the first over against Pakistan in Karachi, and now Reddy joins him as only the second Indian pacer since 2002 to strike twice in his opening over of a men’s Test innings.
Introduced after a testing opening spell from Jasprit Bumrah, Reddy first removed Ben Duckett with a leg-side delivery that was feathered to Rishabh Pant. Three balls later, he produced a superb ball that angled in and seamed away just enough to take Zak Crawley’s edge, reducing England to 45 for 2.
Until then, Duckett and Crawley had battled through a tough first hour, with Bumrah probing relentlessly. Duckett was struck several times on the body but managed to hang in. India finally broke through with Reddy’s double blow, opening up both ends for the visitors.
Ollie Pope survived a big scare early, edging his very first ball into the gully, where Shubman Gill put down a tough, low catch diving to his right. But alongside Joe Root, Pope settled in as the pair resisted further damage and guided England to lunch at 83 for 2 with a 39-run stand.
Despite the dry and low surface offering only modest help to the pacers, Reddy’s early breakthroughs gave India just the start they needed. With his name now alongside Irfan Pathan in the record books, Reddy’s Lord’s debut has already made history.
