Rahul dejected after missing milestone
reply to 477.
When Ben Stokes was asked what Alastair Cook’s team could take from the graft Rahul had imposed on them for almost the entire day, he paused for a moment before coming up with “... a bit of sunburn probably”.
For Rahul, there were mixed feelings of course but also the knowledge that he had batted supremely until his one costly mistake - and with the help of Parthiv Patel (71) and then Karun Nair (71no), in stands of 152 for the first wicket and 162 for the fourth, put India on course for a likely first-innings lead in the final match of a series they already have wrapped up.
Still, it was the one run he did not get which dominated his close-ofplay press conference.
“I was so excited about that one run I forgot to take my time,” he said. “I felt I rushed into the shot.” The delivery from Rashid was one any self-respecting Test batsman would have simply left alone 99 times out of a hundred.
“It’s more disappointing to get out to a ball like that - it hurts even more,” added Rahul.
“I played positively - everything was going my way, everything off the middle of the bat, and the chances I took came off.
“It was just unfortunate that the pressure of getting a double-hundred got to me.
“I am happy at the end of the day 199 has helped my team - but missing out on a double hurts.”
The consolations were obvious, especially such an important stand with his lifelong friend and teammate Nair - who was making his maiden Test 50.
Even so, the near miss still haunted Rahul.
“I was really disappointed, because 200 is a big landmark for any batsman,” he said.
“I don’t chase milestones, but getting a double would have been a proud moment.
“I am gutted to miss out. But I have to be grateful I got a hundred.”
England have spent the whole series trying in vain to get India captain Virat Kohli out cheaply - and on the one occasion they managed it, Stuart Broad having him caught at cover for 15, their frustration was that another India batsman instead made a huge score.
Stokes said: “We tried a lot - but sometimes you’ve got to hold your hands up say they played really, really well.
“Maybe we didn’t get the rewards we deserved.
“We changed fields, came around the wicket, over the wicket with the spin - and Broady ended up getting Kohli with a good bit of planned bowling.” EOIN MORGAN believes he will be welcomed back to take charge of England’s limitedovers squads again next month.
The Irishman caused a stir, alongside record-breaking opener Alex Hales, when both declined to take part in the one-day international tour to Bangladesh in October because of their security concerns about travelling to a country which had witnessed a deadly terror attack on a Dhaka cafe three months earlier.
Morgan cited his residual worries, after previous security alerts while playing in both the Dhaka Premier League in 2013 and the Indian Premier League in 2010, as his key reason for staying at home.
He will, however, be back in India to lead England in three ODIs and three Twenty20s on a tour set to begin on January 5 and include too a return for Hales.
Asked if he believes he can count on the support of his teammates, despite his absence for their hard-fought 2-1 series win under replacement captain Jos Buttler in Bangladesh, he said: “Absolutely. We’re a tightly-knit group who back each other’s decisions – no matter what the case, and in particular in this case where every decision for the individual was his own decision and whatever was right for him.
“I think creating the platform for everybody to feel comfortable and not begrudging anybody for going or not going shows the strength within the side.”
England and Wales Cricket Board director Andrew Strauss voiced his initial ‘disappointment’ over the unavailability of Morgan and Hales but was at pains too to stress throughout that, after giving all players the option to make their own call following a favourable report from expert adviser Reg Dickason about what to expect in Bangladesh, there would be no recriminations.
After the tour passed without incident, Morgan insists he has no regrets about his absence.
“It was a difficult decision to make - and I don’t think a lot of people would have made it but I am certainly happy with the decision that I made,” he said.