The duo remained unbeaten throughout the session and while India still trail over 200 runs, there would be some sort of confidence in the dressing room.
Follow Us
After losing the wicket of opener KL Rahul right before lunch, it seemed as if England would take the advantage and keep the pressure on India in order to gain complete control of the tie. However, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara had other ideas. While Sharma has been in good form, there was pressure on Pujara to play well. Thankfully, he held his ground and played quite well ahead of tea. The duo remained unbeaten throughout the session and while India still trail over 200 runs, there would be some sort of confidence in the dressing room. Sharma reached his half-century as he made 54 before at the end of the session while Pujara was at 40.
Earlier, KL Rahul and Rohit, both had an exceptional series till now, came out to bat for India in their second innings. There was some sense of reassurance in Virat Kohli’s dressing room since these two players were the ones who could be relied upon. However, Leeds has not been the same story as Lords so far. The England bowlers were aggressive from the get-go, unsettling both openers, thus causing a sluggish run rate. Both batters seemed to struggle to cope with the pace attack of James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton, and Sam Curran.
The Leeds pitch seemed to offer good bounce as Sharma and Rahul struggled to cope. There were quite a few lbw shouts on the day. One against Rahul was given out by the umpire, but a DRS review showed that the ball was missing the leg stump by a whisker, saving the Indian opener from an early dismissal. With only a few overs to go before lunch, the batters seemed to be getting the hang of it.
England skipper Joe Root had only used Overton, Anderson, and Robinson by that point. As soon as Sharma started getting a little comfortable, Root brought Curran into the attack. The all-rounder bowled straight and full, unlike the others who were a bit more reliant on the bounce. Once again, India’s opening pair were on the back foot. Their confidence must have also taken a turn for the worse as they were deceived by the bounce and swing far too often.
With only an over left before lunch, it seemed that the Indian batters would survive and be able to regroup in the dressing room. Going into lunch without losing a wicket would have been crucial for Kohli’s men to hold some sort of confidence that they could at least draw the game. However, Craig Overton had other ideas. With the last ball of the session, he bowled a beautiful delivery that was nicked by KL Rahul and masterfully caught by the left hand of Jonny Bairstow.
India went into lunch with 34 runs on the board and nine wickets in hand. They still trail England by 320 runs. Sharma is currently unbeaten at 25 with Cheteshwar Pujara is the next man out in the middle. KL Rahul could only make 8 runs off 54 deliveries. It is certainly a match that he would want to forget.
Rishabh Pant's explosive last-over blitz ignites IPL 2024 amid T20 World Cup comeback talks
