Manchester [UK], July 27 : As the fifth day of action at Manchester during the fourth Test against England is just hours away, Indian openers KL Rahul and skipper Shubman Gill stand on the verge of scoring landmark centuries.
Putting the innings back on track after Chris Woakes reduced India to 0/2, just minutes after the hosts had conceded a 311-run lead, Gill-KL will be aiming to eat further into this lead by continuing their 174-run stand. The motive would be either to play out the whole day for a draw, or accelerate aggressively to give England something to chase during the final session.
At the end of the final session on day four, Gill (78*) and Rahul (87*) are just a few runs shy of their centuries.
If Gill manages to get his century, he will join legends like Sir Donald Bradman (against India in Australia, 1947/48) and Sunil Gavaskar (against West Indies in India, 1978/79) as the skipper with the joint-most centuries during a Test series. So far, Gill has scored three centuries, including marathon knocks of 269 and 161 at Edgbaston. He is the top run-getter in the series with 697 runs at an average of 99.57.
Kl Rahul, on the other hand, is just 13 runs shy of what would be a sublime third century during this series. He will become the first-ever Indian opener to score three centuries during a single series in England. So far in the series, he has scored 508 runs in eight innings at an average of 72.57, with two centuries and fifties each.
Earlier in the fourth Day of the Test match, India recovered after initial shocks in their second innings of the fourth Test, but the team is still in deep waters with England scoring a massive 669 in their first innings and getting an overall lead of 311 runs over the visitors, who had made 358 runs in the second innings.
Big centuries from Joe Root and skipper Stokes and some extra runs from tailenders proved to be a serious headache for India.
The Indian second innings began on a shocking note with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudarshan going back to the pavilion on a duck. KL Rahul and Captain Shubman Gill steadied India's innings with a patient and stellar stand of 174 runs.
India finished Day 4 on 174/2 and are now 137 runs behind England. If the Indian team can salvage the match on the fifth and final day on Sunday, it will be an achievement in itself.
England went wicketless in the final session as Indian batters added 126 runs to their tally, with KL Rahul 87* and Shubman Gill 78* unbeaten on the crease. India started the third session at 86/2 with Gill, who looked in fine touch, notched up his eighth Test fifty and fourth against England off 77 deliveries.