While praising Rishabh Pant for batting with discomfort, former India spinner R Ashwin also criticized the wicketkeeper-batter for discarding his wicket, which allowed England to rally on the third day of the Test at Lord's.

Before being sent out at the stroke of lunch, Rishabh Pant scored an entertaining half-century despite suffering from soreness in his left index finger. Up the final over of the session, with Rahul closing up on a ton at the other end, Pant tried an unwise quick single, but England captain Ben Stokes gave his team something with a brilliant direct hit while rushing in from cover.

Rahul and Pant's combination produced 141 runs off 198 balls. Even against Archer's quick speed, Pant made his intentions known despite the discomfort he was experiencing from the finger injury he sustained while keeping on Day 1.

"In the last two years, even when I used to watch from the dressing room, I feel like this Indian team can kill the game. We had the chance to kill the game on Day 3. KL Rahul was batting beautifully; he looked in absolutely pristine form,” Ashwin said on his Hindi YouTube channel 'Ash Ki Baat'.

"If Rishabh could have gone on to score a bigger score, India could have shut this game down. If India had got 50–100 runs more, I think England would have been under severe pressure. The way Rishabh was batting was unreal. This is what I want from Rishabh Pant. He was looking so solid. He was batting beautifully. The only way he could have gotten out was to run out. He wanted KL Rahul to get his hundred," he added.

Meanwhile, KL Rahul also discussed his talk with Rishabh Pant and the subsequent run out, while attending the presser after day three ended.

"Not ideal. There was a conversation a couple of overs before that: I told him [Pant] that I would get my hundred, if possible, before lunch. And with Bashir bowling that last over before lunch, I thought there was a good chance for me to get it, but, yeah, unfortunately, I hit it straight to the fielder.

It was a ball that I could have hit for a boundary. Then he just wanted me to rotate strike and see if he could put me back on strike. But, yeah, it shouldn't have happened: a run-out at that stage really changed the momentum. It was disappointing for both of us. Obviously, nobody wants to throw their wicket like that,” Rahul told reporters.

India ended their first innings on 387, leveling with England’s first innings total.