"Padding up and trying to go back to bat"- KL Rahul reveals thoughts during India's final-wicket stand in 3rd BGT 2024-25 Test
Team India batter KL Rahul revealed he was ready to go out and bat as the final pair held out in the waning stages of Day 4 of the ongoing third Test against Australia in Brisbane. With the Test match suffering from several rain interruptions, India's goal was crystal clear entering day 4 at 51/4 in response to Australia's 445 - avoid the follow-on.
Rahul played a massive role in India's largely successful day with a crucial 84 off 139 deliveries, while Ravindra Jadeja added 77 off 123. Yet, India were reduced to 213/9, requiring another 33 to avoid the follow-on and make Australia bat again.
However, much to the surprise of even the Indian contingent, Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep added an unbeaten 39 for the final wicket as India avoided the follow-on.
Speaking at the press conference after play on Day 4, Rahul was quoted by News18 as saying:
"I was thinking more about going and padding up and trying to go back to bat. Probably you don’t know, I’m not sure if they would have enforced the follow-on. So I was thinking about what I need to do with my batting. Very good to see when the lower order chips in and scores runs. That’s something that we discuss a lot in our meetings and the bad, the bowlers work really hard on their batting as well."
He added:
"And so yeah, it’s really good to see that they could go there and get that, get that little partnership and avoid the follow-on. Makes a huge difference. Knowing that there’s a bit of rain around and so much of the game has been lost today, we need to find a way to stay in the game. And I think Akash and Bumrah did that at the end."
The final-wicket stand took India's total to 252/9, reducing the overall first-innings deficit to 193 heading into Day 5.
"They really put in the work in the nets" - KL Rahul
KL Rahul praised the Indian bowlers for working hard at their batting in the nets, expressing delight at the hard work paying off at the most crucial time in the Brisbane Test.
While Bumrah batted 27 balls for his 10*, No.11 Akash Deep is on 27* from 31 deliveries.
"It’s always nice to see your bowlers going out there scoring some runs. They really put in the work in the nets. They work really hard and when it mattered today, I’m happy that they could really play some shots and very exciting shots and it was a great contest at the end. The last half an hour they batted that part, not just the runs that they got, just the heart that they showed to keep away the bouncers," said Rahul.
With the weather forecast iffy for Wednesday, December 18, and Australia having to bat again to set India a fourth-innings target, a draw appears to be the most likely result.
Should the game end in a draw, the five-match series will be tied at 1-1 heading into the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne, starting December 26.