'It's never easy for the bowling side because...': Cheteshwar Pujara explains how KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant put pressure on opposition while batting together

India Test great Cheteshwar Pujara explained how wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant put pressure on the opposition while batting together in a Test match. Both batters are currently featuring in England in the five-Test match series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025.

Both batters stitched a game-changing partnership in the second innings in Leeds during the first Test, where they smashed centuries; however, India lost that match by five wickets. In the ongoing third Test match, both batters again shifted the momentum of the game after India's early three wickets. Pant joined KL Rahul after skipper Shubman Gill's wicket on Day 2 of the Lord's Test when India were 107/3. Both batters stitched a 141-run stand in 198 balls before Pant got run out after KL Rahul was looking eager to get on strike, and Pant was late to set off.

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During lunch, India veteran Pujara, who batted alongside Pant, believes that their communication, left-right combination and Pant's aggressive batting are the reason behind their long game-changing partnership.

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"KL Rahul, I think he's very calm, as Michael Vaughan was saying. He doesn't get bothered about what's happening around him. He likes to chat. It's not that he's quiet all the time. He communicates with Rishabh Pant. Rishabh needs a lot of feedback. He always asks his non-striker what the line is, what the length is. And when Rishabh plays aggressively, it's easier for the over-batter at the striker end. And someone like KL Rahul, like, I mean, he knows his game now. And both of them complement each other, and when you have a left and right in combination, it's never easy for the bowling side because they rotate the strike well. And when Rishabh is playing aggressively, it makes the other players' life easier, because I'm batting with him, I know that if you're batting with him, there's more pressure on the bowling side" said Cheteshwar Pujara on Sony Sports.

Rishabh Pant overcame pain in his left index finger to score an entertaining half-century before getting run out a the stroke of lunch, leaving India at 248 for four on day three of the second Test against England. With K L Rahul (98 not out, 171 balls) closed in on his 10th Test hundred and second at Lord's, Pant (74 off 112) attempted an avoidable quick single in the last over of the session but Ben Stokes pulled off a brilliant direct hit running in from cover to give his team something in a session controlled by the opposition.