England's batting unit await an acid test from India's bowling unit on day four of the 3rd Test at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London after the dramatic events of the previous day. Both teams will be equally fired up after the heated chat between players of two sides but will need to focus on the job at hand.
Team India risked conceding a sizeable lead after they slipped to 254/5 as England dismissed KL Rahul (100) and Rishabh Pant (74) on the either side of lunch break. However, the 72-run stand between Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy dragged the tourists to level with England's first-innings total. With Jasprit Bumrh-led bowling unit getting a significant amount of rest after India batted almost the entirety of day three, they will be raring to go at England's fidgety batting unit.
As for England, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett will be at the firing line after visiting captain Shubman Gill accused them of wasting time. Joe Root, who top-scored for the hosts in the first innings, will once again be in the spotlight. However, it's the openers who must set the tone for what can be a challenging total to chase down.
"An opening batter will understand completely what happened in the last five minutes" - KL Rahul
Speaking on the final-over drama, KL Rahul said he understands what the English batters were trying to do but India equally wanted more deliveries than they got at them. Rahul said in the presser, as quoted by Firstpost:
"What happened at the end is just part of the game now. I understand from an opening batterโs point of view. I know exactly what was going on and everyone knows exactly what was going on. But an opening batter will understand completely what happened in the last five minutes. Itโs a bit of theatrics at the end. We were all pumped up either way because we know how difficult it is for a batter to come in to bat for two overs when you have been in the field all day. We were hoping we could get a wicket there and a wicket at the end of the dayโs play would have been perfect for us."
