Indian opener KL Rahul believes Rishabh Pant’s run out at the stroke of lunch on the third day of the Lord’s Test against England changed the momentum of the game. Rahul and Pant were going strongly before the latter was dismissed after scoring 74 runs.

Pant called Rahul for a quick single but he could not make his ground as England captain Ben Stokes hit the stumps directly. Rahul was unbeaten on 98 at that stage and Pant wanted to give the strike to his partner, so that he could complete his century before lunch. The duo added 141 runs for the fourth wicket, but Pant’s dismissal helped England get back into the game.

Rahul said in the press conference after the end of day’s play, “Obviously, not ideal. There was a conversation a couple of overs before. I told him that I’ll try and get my 100 if possible before lunch. With [Shoaib] Bashir bowling that last over before lunch, I thought there’s a good chance for me to get it. But unfortunately, I hit it straight to the fielder. Then, I think he just wanted to rotate the strike and see if he can put me back on strike.”

“It shouldn’t have happened. Run out at that stage really changed the momentum and was disappointing for both of us. Obviously, nobody wants to throw their wicket like that.”

Pant’s knock was laden with eight fours and two sixes and Rahul admitted he wished he could bat as aggressively as the wicket-keeper batter.

“I look at the way he bats and wish and hope that I could do that. 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. We do chat quite a lot about cricket.

“We were both injured and we were at the NCA back in Bangalore. We would see each other every day and that’s probably the first time I realized there’s a lot of thought behind how bats,” the right-handed batter added.

After the lunch break, Rahul was also dismissed soon after completing his hundred.