After England had posted a total of 387 on the board for their first innings of the Lord's Test, India looked likely to surpass it thanks to a brilliant partnership between KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. However, the latter lost his wicket on 74 due to a fantastic run-out from Ben Stokes, restricting the visitors to 248/4. Many blamed Rahul for Pant's dsismissal as the former was on 98 during the final over of the first session and the latter wanted to give him the strike so that he could bring up his ton.
However, this move ended up backfiring big time and the partnership of 141 was brought to and end by the England captain. Even though Rahul went on to complete his century in the second session, he admitted that it was his rush to reach his hundred that led to the run-out. Following this, former India cricketer Robin Uthappa raised questions over Rahul's mentality and blamed him for Pant's dismissal.
Uthappa questioned Rahul's mentality
"Did anyone ask him why he deemed getting his 100 important before Lunch? There must have been a reason. Why was that a thought? Why was that deeply considered? If someone asked him why, we would have gotten to the bottom of this whole thing about milestones," Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.
"I reckon the communication between Rahul and Pant would have been you know what, I think we need to take the attack on, we both are set. If I can get my 100 before lunch, then we can take the attack to them immediately after, and then you can hold fort Rishabh while I take the attack on and lets get these guys out of the game completely. That perhaps was the thought process," he added.
Uthappa also pointed out how personal milestones mean a lot for Indian players in particular and cited Indian media and critics as the reason for this. He even claimed that personal records do not matter much for Australian or English cricketers.
"I don't think these numbers would matter for an Australian or an English player in the long run. But for an Indian player, it matters. A hundred matters. It means a lot more because it means a lot more to the Indian media and critics alike. So hundreds and milestones are a big thing," Uthappa stated.
Meanwhile, after suffering a 22-run defeat in the third Test at Lord's, India now trail England 2-1 in the series. It has now become highly important for the Men in Blue to record a victory in the fourth Test at Old Trafford as if the Three Lions end up winning the upcoming match, then they will seal the series before even plaing the fifth and final game. The fourth Test of the series is set to commence from July 23 in Manchester.