Team India opener KL Rahul will be massively in focus ahead of day four of the opening Test against England at the Headingley in Leeds. With India holding a 96-run lead and Rahul unbeaten at 47, the onus will be on the 33-year-old to convert his start to a big score and put their side ahead.
Rahul had already missed out on a well-deserved fifty in the first innings, dismissed by Brydon Carse after nicking off to first slip. The elegant right-handed batter has looked as composed in the second innings as his first, playing 75 deliveries for his unbeaten 47. With Shubman Gill set to join hands with Rahul and the visiting captain peeling off a hundred in the first innings, he will also be looking to assert his authority again.
England's spirits were lifted after a late strike on day two to get the better of B Sai Sudharsan for 30. However, the hosts still have a monumental task at hand to get the remaining eight wickets for as less runs as possible. With the pitch still fairly good for batting, England have a significant challenge in front of them.
"I don’t think it was the wrong decision at all" - Ollie Pope on England opting to bowl first
At the presser after day three, Ollie Pope, who scored a hundred, reflected that fielding first in Leeds was not a wrong decision even after India made 471. He said, as quoted by The Guardian:
"When you see a score like [India’s] you think we should have batted first, but I don’t think it was the wrong decision at all. We were good on day one and didn’t get our rewards. On another day we might get a few more wickets. We know we’ve had some success chasing at this ground too, so it’s easy to look at it and say, ‘You’ve got to bat first,’ but hopefully it will play out in our favour in the end."
