Boos erupt at Lord's as Ravindra Jadeja mocks Joe Root to take risk for century - WATCH

Ravindra Jadeja dares Joe Root to go for a second run while he's chasing his century. (Photo: X)

It was all going as expected on Day 1 of the Lord’s Test between India and England on Thursday (July 10). England won the toss, elected to bat first, and the openers appeared to be laying a solid foundation after a steady start. The first breakthrough came at 43 runs with the dismissal of Ben Duckett. Nitish Kumar Reddy then struck again in the same over, removing Zak Crawley.

Joe Root and Ollie Pope then came together and steadied the innings, frustrating the Indian bowlers with a more measured, ‘reverse-Bazball’ approach.

Later in the day, Pope was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja on the very first delivery after Tea. Jasprit Bumrah, the world’s number one Test bowler, then got into the action by knocking over Harry Brook’s stumps, reducing England to four down. From there, it was Root and captain Ben Stokes who held firm and carried the hosts through to stumps.

The final over of the day summed up the cat-and-mouse game both teams had played throughout. Root, batting on 98 off 190 balls, played a shot towards third man and looked for two runs to complete his century. However, Jadeja—who was the closest fielder—playfully mocked Root by pretending to offer a second run, while Stokes at the other end kept shouting, “No!” Jadeja even left the ball on the ground instead of throwing it back to the keeper. Root, who had almost reached halfway down the pitch in pursuit of the second run, couldn’t help but smile at the cheeky gesture.

Rule #1: Never risk it with @imjadeja Rule #2: If you forget Rule #1 #ENGvIND  3rd TEST Day 2 FRI, JULY 11, 2:30 PM streaming on JioHotstar! pic.twitter.com/6chobVFsBL

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— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 10, 2025

The crowd at Lord's did not like the gesture as loud boos erupted from the stadium. An Indian player was also caught on stump saying, "Aaj raat ko banne mat de (don't allow him to get the 100 tonight)."

Root is just one run short of overtaking Steve Smith to claim the record for the most Test centuries among active players. Reaching the milestone would also lift him to fifth on the all-time list of Test century-makers, placing him just one hundred behind Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara.