Multiple rain stoppages only allowed them to keep coming at the Indian lower order more intensely. Rahul scored fifty but missed out on another hundred. His 86 was the best of the lot with Jadeja making 77.
It is not just the runs that mattered the most, but the time they had spent in the middle. Rahul had batted for 139 balls and Jadeja 123. Nitish Reddy, who joined Jadeja after Rahul got out, stayed for 61 balls. The three batters cumulatively faced 323 balls – 53.5 overs – from the 396 legitimate deliveries that were bowled till Jadeja fell.
In the larger scheme of things, it’s longer than three of the four innings India had batted as the team in the first two Tests.
They did so by leaving balls as much as they can, playing close the body, keeping the interception point – where they meet the ball – as late as possible. Among the three, Rahul of course had the toughest job. For him, it was very simple. Give the first 30 overs to the bowlers.
He had watched Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney in Adelaide and Steve Smith in Brisbane. He followed it to the T.
“The only thing you can do in the first 30 overs is to tighten up your defence, try and respect that the first 30 overs is the bowler’s time and give them their time. Leave balls, try and play as tight as possible and then really try to cash in once the ball gets older,” Rahul said.
