‘We could get a wicket…’: KL Rahul speaks on Zak Crawley’s time-wasting tactics on Day 3 of Lord’s Test

The Day three came to an end on a dramatic note as England opener Zak Crawley used the delay-making tactic in order to make sure the the team played only one over before stumps for the day. Speaking after the match, India’s opener KL Rahul stated that this made the essence of a hard day in Test cricket.

Indian team was hardly moved by the act of the hosts, and pacer Jasprit Mohammed Siraj was even clapping in sarcasm as Zak Crawley- in order to stall time for his team to play less overs- faked pain in his right hand after defending the ball from the middle of his bat.

KL Rahul said Crawley’s tactic was understandable considering he is an opener himself.
“What happened at the end is just part of the game now. I understand from an opening batter’s point of view. I know exactly what was going on and everyone knows exactly what was going on. But an opening batter will understand completely what happened in the last five minutes,” he said.

“I have seen him fired up but obviously we wanted to bowl two overs. There were six minutes left. Obviously, two overs is a no-brainer that any team will bowl two overs with six minutes to go. It’s a bit of theatrics at the end. We were all pumped up either way because we know how difficult it is for a batter to come in to bat for two overs when you have been in the field all day. We were hoping we could get a wicket there and a wicket at the end of the day’s play would have been perfect for us,” added Rahul.