India opener KL Rahul’s admirable stoicism stood in the way of England after the visitors were reduced to 0/2 in the first innings, following the highest-ever total at Old Trafford in their first essay. Steered by centuries from Joe Root and captain Ben Stokes, England piled on 669 to take a massive 311-run first-innings lead, which put India in danger of an innings defeat on an overcast evening in Manchester.
Worst fears for Indian fans seemed to turn into a reality when seamer Chris Woakes dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan for ducks in the opening over. However, a solid Rahul and skipper Shubman Gill stubbed England’s chances of making further inroads on Day 4 as the duo batted out two sessions on Saturday. Rahul and Gill became the first pair to bat throughout two sessions in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series and also recorded the first instance of a 150-plus partnership for the third wicket in history, after the team had found themselves two wickets down for no score.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain praised Rahul’s methodical approach to batting and preparation as he recorded his first 500-plus run series across his 11-year Test career. The Karnataka batter has ranked among the most successful opening batters ever in England and has already moved up the charts as India’s fourth-highest run-scorer in the country, surpassing Virat Kohli.
“Great character shown” 💪
Ravi Shastri on KL Rahul and Shubman Gill 🏏 pic.twitter.com/hb0hNJx2zD
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 26, 2025
“I spoke to him in India when I went out. He was doing his shoot with one of his sponsors. I asked, ‘When will you start preparing?’ He said, ‘I’m going to get my little book out’. He’s a very good note-taker; he said he will look back at the notes he made on the previous tour of England and come early and just remind himself of what he did in the last tour when he had some success. And he has repeated it on this tour,” Nasser said.
After his IPL 2025 campaign with the Delhi Capitals ended on May 24, Rahul flew to England to feature in the preparatory match against England Lions, scoring 116 and 51 in the two innings.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar also lauded the steely partnership between Rahul and Gill. “Brilliant. Hats off to KL Rahul first because he was like a security blanket for India. He didn’t put a foot wrong. Shubman Gill had some issues to begin with. A bit lucky with the dropped catch. But post-tea, the kind of avatar that we saw of Shubman Gill, is just something that has bowled me over. The kind of mental reserve and grit that they show match after match. You have to take you hats off to these batters,” he said on ESPNcricinfo.
The duo will return to bat on the final day with India placed at 174/2, still trailing England by 137 runs.
