'Told him I will get my 100...': KL Rahul admits role in Rishabh Pant's critical run-out at Lord's

India opener KL Rahul acknowledged that his relentless quest for a century before lunch on Day 3 resulted in a significant error, as his hurried attempt for a run caused Rishabh Pant's run-out, which was "not ideal" for India's efforts to take the lead. In the final over before lunch, Pant was run out for 74 while attempting to return Rahul to strike to finish his hundred.

Rahul, who became only the second Indian to have his name featured more than once on the Lord's honours board, successfully achieved his milestone after lunch but was dismissed immediately after reaching his 10th Test century, leaving India at 254 for 5.

"There was a conversation a couple of overs before that. I told him that I will get my hundred if possible before lunch. And with Bashir bowling that last over before lunch, I thought there's a good chance for me to get it, but, yeah, unfortunately I hit straight to the fielder. It was a ball that I could have hit for a boundary," Rahul told reporters at the end of the day's play.

"Then he just wanted 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," he added.

Rahul's century at Lord's, which came after his ton in Leeds and a half-century in Birmingham, marks his fourth in Tests in England, tying him for the second-most by an Indian batter in the country with Rishabh Pant, Sachin Tendulkar, and Dilip Vengsarkar.

The Indian opener had previously achieved a triple-figure score at this venue in 2021, when India secured a thrilling victory against the hosts. He mentioned that over the past two years, he has been collaborating with a specialist who has assisted him with reaction-time training similar to that used by Formula 1 drivers.

"In the last year or so, I've worked on a few mental drills. I spent a bit of time with an expert who helped me with improving my reaction time. These are mental games that help you get better with reaction time and things like that," Rahul explained.

"I think a lot of other sports use it... I've seen this in Formula 1 quite a lot. I picked this up from one of the guys I worked with in Salzburg. I'm closely associated with Red Bull, so I had the opportunity to go there and work with some of the coaches. They work with elite Formula 1 guys and other adventure sports people who require a lot of this mental side of the game," he said.

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