I Told Him I Will Get My Hundred Before Lunch: KL Rahul Admits Century Chase Caused Pant's Run-Out
How did India lose control of the match so abruptly? Speaking at the end of the day, KL Rahul admitted that his urgency to reach a century before the lunch break ended up shifting the momentum in England's favour.
Rahul shared that he had told Pant about his plan to get to the hundred a couple of overs before the break. On the first ball of Bashir's over, he pushed a single to sweeper cover. Pant reportedly expressed frustration, believing that Rahul had missed an opportunity to hit a boundary off a loose delivery. Just two balls later, Pant attempted a risky single and was run out by a sharp pick-up and direct hit from England captain Ben Stokes. Pant, who was batting on 74 and possibly eyeing a century himself, walked off visibly disappointed.
At the media briefing, Rahul acknowledged the error in judgment.
"Not ideal," he said. "There was a conversation a couple of overs before that. I told him (Pant) that I will get my hundred if possible before lunch. And with Bashir bowling that last over before lunch I thought there's a good chance for me to get it, but, yeah, unfortunately I hit straight to the fielder.
"It was a ball that I could have hit for a boundary. Then he just wanted me to rotate strike and see if he could put me back on strike. But, yeah, it shouldn't have happened a run out at that stage really changed the momentum. It was disappointing for both of us. Obviously, nobody wants to throw their wicket like that," he added.
He also Acknowledged the mistake Indian batters did in not converting their scores to a big hundred-
"Yeah, yeah. Of course there's a little bit of disappointment because till just before tea time we were in a really good position. Obviously, me and Rishabh got that long partnership and (then) we both got out (in quick succession) he got out just before lunch and I got out just after lunch. That wasn't ideal so you had set batters in the top five who had gotten off to starts so ideally you want one of them or both to go on and get a big score and that's how you get ahead in a Test match," he said.
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