KL Rahul ready to puff, Akash Deep told to ‘calm down’: Indian dressing room scenes before avoiding follow-up

KL Rahul has revealed he had thoughts of puffing up to bat again as India lost their ninth wicket for 213 on Day 4 of the Gabba Test in Brisbane against Australia. Rahul top-scored for India in the first innings with 84, but with a follow-up threat looming, Rahul braced himself for a second innings on the day. But luckily for him and the entire Indian team, it didn’t come to that as the last wicket pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep put on a spirited partnership of 39 unbeaten runs to take India to 252/9 at stumps and, in the process, avoid the dreaded follow-up.

India must breathe a lot easier now, knowing that they are in a much better position in the game, even if they are not out of the woods yet. The chances of the match ending in a draw looks most likely, with two more rounds to unfold over three sessions, despite rain. That said, this was not always the case. With 33 runs needed and one wicket in hand, India feared the worst, admits Rahul, prompting the opener to mentally prepare to approach the second innings should the need arise.

“It’s very good to see the lower order chipping in and scoring runs. It’s something we discuss a lot in our meetings and the bowlers are working really hard on their batting as well. Really good to see they can go there and get that little partnership and avoid the follow-on (it) makes a huge difference knowing that there is a bit of rain and so much of the match has been lost because of that and Bumrah did it a good way to end the day for us,” said Rahul about Akash and Bumrah’s effort.

“At that point (213/9) I was thinking more about going and brushing up and trying to go back to bad. I’m not sure if they would have enforced the follow-up so I thought what I need to do to my batting But it’s always nice to see bowlers go out there and get some runs, they put in a lot of effort in the nets and as it meant something today I’m glad they were able to really play some shots and very exciting shots It was a very exciting contest in the last half hour… not just the runs they got but the heart they showed to keep the bouncers away, get behind the ball, defend well, play some great shots will give them and the team a lot of confidence.”

Akash Deep urged to ‘calm down’

But the path to avoiding the follow-up was not easy. The Australians chipped away relentlessly, but hats off to Bumrah and Akash for showing tremendous restraint in their approach. None of the batsmen attempted the big shots and focused on playing orthodox and grounded shots. Akash’s strike on the back foot was a feast for the sore eyes, one that would have made any top-order batter proud.

But the one time Akash tried to hit one out of mid off, India needed just four off. The team management quickly noticed Akash’s lack of concentration and took immediate action. A picture showed Virat Kohli coming out to the dressing room balcony to deliver a message where Rahul explained the whole process.

“It’s very simple. Try to get those runs. You don’t have to try to do it with a boundary but just knock it around with singles. They (Australia) had spread the field so the singles were there to be taken. So just be a little more patient because just before the message went out we saw that Akash was trying to hit a boundary, so just a message to calm down and see if they can get 5-6 singles and avoid the follow up,” added he. .

Akash was able to get his swing with the long handle as he smashed Pat Cummins deep into the stands over long-on.