‘I dream of playing shots like that’: Rahul expresses his admiration for Pant

LONDON: India’s experienced opener KL Rahul expressed his admiration for vice-captain Rishabh Pant and his dream to replicate the dynamic southpaw’s play style following their record-breaking exploits on Day 3 of the third Test against England at Lord’s.

Rahul, with his elegance and unflappable temperament, forged a 141-run partnership with Pant, who stayed true to his destructive nature. Despite their contrasting style of play, the duo worked in tandem and tantalised England while setting the stage for India’s dominance.

The versatile batter revealed that even though their approach to the game has nothing in common, he “enjoys” batting with Pant. While Rahul puts his faith in a composed approach, he dreams of playing with Pant’s mindset, hoping that someday he could execute it on the field.

“I think the most common thing is our love for cricket, love for batting, and love for performing in difficult scenarios. We’ve had a lot of important partnerships in the last few years. And I enjoy batting with him. I thoroughly enjoy batting with him. When he’s batting with me, I look at the way he bats, and I wish and I hope that I could do that,” Rahul told reporters in a press conference.

“Some days, I sit when there are no games and dream of playing shots like that and playing with that kind of mindset and attitude. But yeah, it’s always just been a dream. We do chat quite a lot about cricket and batting, and the technical bit of batting as well,” he added.

Rahul took a trip down memory lane and recalled that during their rehabilitation at the NCA in 2023, he realised that Pant, a “deep thinker” of the game, doesn’t pull off random strokes even though his style suggests it in some ways. His approach relies heavily on a well-thought-out process.

“He was injured in the NCA, and we were both injured. We were at the NCA back in Bangalore, and we would see each other every day, and that’s probably the first time I realised there’s a lot of thought behind how he bats. He’s a deep thinker of the game, though it may not seem that way or suggest with the way he plays,” he said.

“But it’s something that suits his game, and that’s all. Obviously, for me, it’s been great to understand how he thinks and get a little bit of a deeper insight into his mind. So yeah, that’s probably it. We both get along pretty well. We’re great friends off the field as well. But yeah, common and very few things,” he added.

The 141-run partnership met a bitter end on the final ball before lunch. While attempting to steal a quick single, Pant was late to set off and was caught short of the crease by England Test captain Ben Stokes’ brilliance. He picked up the ball, turned towards the non-striker’s end and rattled the stumps with his precise throw, forcing Pant to return on 74(112).

Rahul notched up his second ton at Lord’s; however, his masterclass ended immediately. Rahul tried to hit spinner Shoaib Bashir’s flighted off-break through the covers, but all he could manage was a loose push. He gave an edge, which flew Harry Brook at the slips, and Rahul looked at the sky and made his way to the pavilion at 100(177).

India finished the day with 387, the exact total that England piled up. After Gill’s fiery exchange with Zak Crawley, England remained unscathed and ended the day with 2/0. (ANI)