Despite KL Rahul’s stoicism and Rishabh Pant’s measured daredevilry, England’s attempts to make inroads early on Day 3 were thwarted for nearly two hours. However, India ceded momentum minutes before Lunch when an adventurous ‘milestone’ attempt proved costly for the visitors.
With Rahul on the verge of a historic second Test century on the hallowed turf, the 33-year-old Rahul pushed Rishabh Pant for an adventurous single in the last over of Lunch off off-spinner Shoaib Bashir’s bowling, only to see England captai Ben Stokes’ excellent pick-up and throw at the non-striker’s dismissing the India wicket-keeper run out.
With a 141-run fourth-wicket stand broken with Pant’s dismissal on 72, Rahul reached his century early in the second session before falling on 100 in Bashir’s next over. While the lower-order put on a fight to level the first-innings scores with England at 387, Rahul admitted that his hunt for the landmark hampered India’s momentum.
“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.
RUN OUT! 🙌
Ben Stokes aims and fires at the stumps and Rishabh Pant is out! ❌ pic.twitter.com/Z9JWwV9aS4
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 12, 2025
“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.
As he stroked his way to his 10th Test century and fourth in England, Rahul became the first Asian opener to hit multiple Test tons at the iconic Lord’s. No opener, including English batters, have struck two Test centuries at the venue since 2012, but Rahul rued falling soon after reaching three figures.
“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.
Bash with a bang! 💥
A hundred and out for KL Rahul 🤝 pic.twitter.com/MMy3qQ1igN
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 12, 2025
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Kumble slams Rahul, Pant
Former India captain Anil Kumble lambasted Rahul and Pant for their poor decision-making in the situation.
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“I think initially Rishabh Pant called and then hesitated, thinking that there was no run. And then KL was off the blocks straight away. So Rishabh Pant’s initial hesitation probably delayed his response. And then he had to take off because KL was just running straight through and on target. This was unnecessary, for sure, because you could have just blocked the next three balls, gone to lunch, and then do whatever you had to, or continued the great work that both these batters did in that first session,” said Kumble on JioHotstar.
Citing Joe Root’s example, who hit his 37th century on Friday after finishing unbeaten on 99 overnight, Kumble said: “This wasn’t needed. Joe Root had to wait for one night. He was on 99, he had to come back the next day. They had done so well; it was a fantastic partnership. It allowed England some confidence going into the second session.”
