After gaining a lead of six runs in the first Test of the five-match series against England at Headingley, Leeds, the need of the hour for the Indian batters was to see off the new ball and keep the hosts at bay. KL Rahul did just that. The visitors might have lost Yashasvi Jaiswal (4) cheaply, but the right-hander found support in Sai Sudharsan, and the duo kept the scoreboard moving.
Rahul unleashed some beautiful cover drives and straight drives, and his performance has now been dubbed “very close to perfection.” Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar was full of praise for KL Rahul, saying even the most harsh critic would not be able to find a flaw in the cover drives played by the batter in the second innings.
At stumps on Day 3, India’s score read 90/2 with the visitors leading by 96 runs. KL Rahul and Shubman Gill are unbeaten on 47 and 6 respectively.
Manjrekar said KL Rahul is looking too good in the middle in the second innings, and he just hopes that he continues with his effort. Even in the first innings, Rahul got among the runs. However, he threw his wicket away for 42 after chasing a wide delivery.
Also Read: IND vs ENG Highlights: India end day on 90/2, lead by 96
“I just want to say that the innings of KL Rahul was very close to perfection. Honestly, I mean, he didn’t put a foot wrong. There were a couple of cover drives which were 10 out of 10 even for the most harsh critic to analyse that cover drive, which was perfection in motion and a back-foot punch as well. A lot of responsibility on KL Rahul,” Manjrekar said on JioHotstar after stumps on Day 3.
“That shot is perfection. Have a look at another perfect cover drive, and then one more to follow, even that is a perfect straight drive. So, KL Rahul, looking too good, touch wood,” he added.
‘Nice to see Sai score some runs’
Sai Sudharsan, who is making his Test debut for India, failed to get among the runs in the first innings as he was dismissed for a duck. However, the young left-hander scored 30 runs in the second innings.
However, against the run of play, Sai Sudharsan lost his wicket to Stokes as he flicked the delivery straight to Zak Crawley.
Manjrekar said that it was good to see Sai Sudharsan scoring some runs. He also said that this performance in the second innings merits the youngster getting a chance to play in the next two Tests.
“It was nice to see him get a score, and he must be so disappointed because as a batter, when you reach a score of 30, you feel you’ve done the job. You’ve got the measure of the bowling attack, and he’s very old-fashioned in the way he bats. You know, he plays the ball late. There’s no trigger movement,” said Manjrekar.
Earlier on Day 3, India bowled out England for 465, gaining a lead of six runs. Jasprit Bumrah was once again the pick of the bowlers as he returned with five wickets. Ollie Pope scored a century for England while Harry Brook got dismissed for 99.
