KL Rahul has revealed that he was thinking about returning to bat when India lost their ninth wicket for 213 against Australia on the fourth day of the Gabba Test in Brisbane. Rahul was the top scorer for India in the first innings with 84, but with another threat looming, Rahul prepared for a second try of the day. Luckily for him and the entire Indian team, however, it didn’t come to that as the final wicket pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep formed a spirited 39-run unbeaten partnership to take India to 252/9 at stumps and avoid in the process the dreaded consequences.

India needs to breathe a lot easier now knowing that they are in a much better situation in the game even if they are not out of the woods yet. The chances of the game ending in a draw are the most likely with two more innings spread over three sessions despite the rain. However, that wasn’t always the case. With 33 runs needed and a wicket hand, India feared the worst, admits Rahul, which prompted the opener to mentally prepare himself to approach the second innings should the need arise.

“It’s really nice to see the lower order step in and score runs. This is something we talk about a lot in our meetings and the bowlers are also working really hard on their shots. It’s really good to see that they can go there and get so little. “Partnership and avoiding the aftermath makes a big difference when you know there’s a bit of rain and a lot of the game has been lost as a result. We had to find a way to stay in the game and Akash and Bumrah did it well. “This is the perfect end to the day for us,” said Rahul about Akash and Bumrah’s efforts.

“At that point (213/9) I was thinking more about moving on and trying to get back to the worst level. I’m not sure if they would have forced the continuation so I thought about what I needed. “But it’s always nice to see the bowlers go out and score a few runs. They put a lot of effort into the nets and when it mattered today I’m glad they were able to actually play some shots and very exciting shots Very exciting contest in the last half hour… not just the runs they but also the heart they showed to keep the bouncers away, get behind the ball, defend well and hit some nice shots. This will give them and the team a lot of confidence.”

Akash Deep called for “calm down”.

But the path to avoid succession was not easy. The Australians tried tirelessly but hats off to Bumrah and Akash who showed tremendous restraint in their approach. None of the batters tried the big shots and concentrated on playing orthodox and grounded shots. Akash’s back-foot strikes were a sight to behold that would have made any top-class batsman proud.

However, once Akash tried to score from the middle, India needed just four hits. The team management quickly noticed Akash’s lack of concentration and took immediate action. A picture showed Virat Kohli coming to the dressing room balcony to deliver a message, with Rahul explaining the entire process.

“It’s very simple. Try to get those runs. You don’t have to try a limit, just play around with singles. They (Australia) had spread the field so the singles were there to be taken. So just.” Stay a little more patient because just before the message was sent, we saw that Akash was trying to reach a limit, so just a message to calm down and see if she has 5-6 singles get and avoid the consequence,” he added.

Akash managed to swing the long handle as he smashed Pat Cummins deep into the stands with a long-on.