Shubman Gill and Ben Stokes: Captains on Rishabh Pant's run-out - the turning point at Lord's

Shubman Gill and Ben Stokes: Captains on Rishabh Pant's run-out - the turning point at Lord's

A visibly exhausted but satisfied England captain Ben Stokes on Monday shared what was going through his mind when he effected the crucial run-out of Rishabh Pant during India's first innings of the Lord’s Test, which has been touted as "turning point" by many experts including Ravi Shastri. A critical moment in the contest, the dismissal of Pant at 74 had repercussions throughout the match as India lost by 22 runs to go down 1-2 in the five-match series.

“I had bowled an important spell, I was pretty pumped up, very important position at extra cover, it was one of those things, I saw Rishabh stutter in my peripheral, natural instincts took over and it is a great feeling when you let go of the ball and know that is going towards the stumps,” Stokes said in the post-match interview at Lord’s. “Big part of the game, Rishabh played really well, we all know how dangerous he can be and that wicket this morning was a big one and Jofra was the man to do it,” he added.

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Even India captain Shubman Gill acknowledged that the crucial moment that swung the game in the hosts' favor was when his vice-captain was run-out. “The most vital turnaround point for me was Rishabh’s run-out. We could have added some more runs and the match would have been different,” Gill said at the post-match press conference.

Gill insisted that Pant was the one who called and asked the right-hander to charge for a run, refusing to place the responsibility on KL Rahul, who was then batting on 99. "We always talk about keeping the team first. But I think it was more an error in judgment rather than someone thinking about their 100. KL Rahul might have told Rishabh 'It would be good if I complete my 100 before lunch. The batter feels the pressure when he is batting on 99. But I wouldn't say Rishabh Pant got out because of the personal milestone of KL Rahul," Gill said.

"It was an error of judgment. Rishabh made the call. The danger end was KL Bhai. I would say it was an error of judgment. It can happen to any batter," he added.