Mumbai, July 11 -- The capacity crowd at Lord's was making enough noise to keep the atmosphere festive. It's a good thing there was also a fair spread of past greats and connoisseurs because the cricket for the best part of day 1 from the home side, was anything but Bazball. The uber aggressive method that England have been playing for three years now under Ben Stokes was abandoned, particularly in the post-lunch session by Joe Root and Ollie Pope. Not to say it was a predetermined ploy by England as a batting collective. Openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley certainly took their chances as they usually do. But England's No 4 saw merit in resorting to play the ball on merit, and by the time, the umpires called stumps, he was unbeaten on 99 (191b) an anxious night's sleep away from his 37th Test ton. England's scoring rate in the post-lunch session was painfully slow. They managed only 70 runs in 24 overs, including a spell of 28 consecutive dot balls. Having made a bright start to the series, India could take some credit in forcing England to alter their plans. But it also threw them a challenge to uproot batters, who for once were determined to dig in. The session began with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj at their disciplined best - 15 runs in 10 overs. But England were happy to show intent in defense, the old fashioned way. Other than the odd sledge, "Is this Bazball?", Shubman Gill may have missed a trick by not trying to break the pattern of play. He had at his disposal the services of Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. One of them could have been used as a bait to see if Pope would be tempted into playing one of his fancy reverse sweeps, which we know he can play from his Hyderabad Test hundred, last year. Instead, Gill trusted Nitish Reddy, who had bowled well in the opening session and the hero from last Test Akash Deep to pile on the pressure. Reddy tried his best but would leak the odd boundary. And Akash Deep is still a work in progress with the older ball. Root had given up on the fanciful reverse ramp for quite some time now. This time, he wanted to be sure, he played close to his body and waited for the loose ball. India's back-up pacers kept the slips in place, but there were enough signs in the pitch to suggest, bowlers might have to bowl straighter. During that period, India never tried to pressure the batters with a ring of fielders in front of the wicket. Gill will be better for the experience of being at the receiving end of such attritional sessions, the kind he will see a lot more as he grows as a Test captain. At 153/2 after two sessions, England nudged ahead without taking many chances. India waited to introduce Jadeja until the 47th over. The left-arm spinner immediately got some spin and on the first ball of the final session was able to end Pope's resistance on 44. It was then down to the talisman Bumrah to break through Harry Brook's defenses with a sharp nip backer. He may have been miserly again, but even Bumrah had to wait until his 16th over to pick his first wicket to show how slow the pitch was. By stumps, under Root's watch, England were the better placed at 251/4. When the day began after Stokes, for once, elected to bat to a roar of approval from the crowd, it was a stroke of luck from Reddy that brought India right into the contest. What else would you say to Reddy sending back Duckett with a strangle down leg side? The wicket that came after more than an hour's toil for India where they troubled English openers with the new ball; so much that data suggested each of them had played 40 percent false shots during their stay. In the middle of the well documented harsh English summer, the Lord's pitch, baking in sunshine, offered very little carry to the fast bowlers. Bumrah is usually the first to gauge conditions and it took him four balls to find Duckett's outside edge that did not carry. The speedster gave out an early call to his slip fielders to come up on what he declared, as heard from the stump mic, was a "soft pitch". Zak Crawley tried to unsettle the bowlers by charging at them frequently, but was mostly unsuccessful. Then, out of nowhere, Reddy produced a dream away swinger that moved late and straightened to catch Crawley's (18) outside edge to pick his second wicket in the over. He may have been a trifle lucky with the first, but the second wicket kindled Indian hopes that the all-rounder could play a worthy fourth pacer on a pitch that will test the bowlers....