The first day of the fourth Test in India was a rollercoaster. What looked like it could be a great start quickly turned sour. Rishabh Pant got hurt, and there’s a real question mark over whether he’ll be able to play in the rest of the match.
On the batting front, Yashasvi Jaiswal (58) and KL Rahul (46) both looked good, but they got out playing loose shots after losing focus for a moment. Sai Sudharshan made 61, but he was dismissed just when he seemed set for a big score.
Sanjay Manjrekar, the former India batter, spoke about Jaiswal and Rahul’s dismissals.When you consider how this Test match is progressing, it seems pretty interesting. India dominated the first session, but England fought back to win the second. KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, were well-established, only to get out. I might be reading too much into this, but could it be mental fatigue from such a long series? These guys have already scored runs, and usually, they don’t throw away their advantage after getting to 50. The fact that they didn’t dig in and score big hundreds makes me wonder if their mental stamina was a factor. They’ve been playing so well, so the drop in commitment and grind makes you wonder if they had enough left in the tank, Manjrekar said on Jio Hotstar.
Meanwhile, Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, was impressed with KL Rahul’s batting during the series against England. Hussain even likened Rahul’s approach to that of an English opening batter. In the first innings of the Manchester Test, Rahul scored 46 runs from 98 balls, hitting four boundaries. He uses wonderful technique. He bats a lot like an English opening batter, which is a real bonus for the Indian team, Hussain said on Sky Sports.
During the first day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford, Rahul reached 1000 Test runs in England. He’s now only the fifth Indian to achieve this, joining Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, and Virat Kohli. Tendulkar leads the way with 1575 runs, followed by Dravid (1376), Gavaskar (1152), and Kohli (1096). Rahul’s inclusion in this group is another good achievement in his career. In 12 Tests in England, he’s scored four centuries and two fifties, with a best of 149.
Other Indian batters have also been getting praise from former players. Ravi Shastri, the India head coach, spoke highly of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 36 runs in the first session of the fourth Test. This tour of England will improve Jaiswal a lot. He showed determination this morning after his failures at Lord’s, respecting the conditions and the new ball. He then started playing attacking shots about half an hour before lunch, like the uppercut and the slash over the slips, Shastri said.