ENG vs IND 2025: ‘Anyone asked him why he deemed scoring ton crucial before Lunch?’ – Robin Uthappa questions KL Rahul after Rishabh Pant’s run-out

Robin Uthappa questioned India’s obsession with personal milestones after Rishabh Pant was run-out while trying to give strike to KL Rahul when the latter was batting on 98 in the last over before Tea on Day 3 of the third Test at Lord’s last week.

India were cruising before the dismissal, being 248/3, as they were in pursuit of overhauling England’s first-innings score of 387. Pant was batting on 74 as India were hoping to take a sizeable first-innings lead. However, the tourists were eventually bowled out for 387 and went on to lose the match by 22 runs.

After the Lord’s Test, Rahul admitted that he wanted to get the century out of the way before the Tea interval. Former India batter Robin Uthappa has raised questions over Rahul and India’s mindset.

“Did anyone ask him why he deemed getting his 100 important before Lunch? There must have been a reason. Why was that a thought? Why was that deeply considered? If someone asked him why, we would have gotten to the bottom of this whole thing about milestones,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.

“I reckon the communication between Rahul and Pant would have been you know what, I think we need to take the attack on, we both are set. If I can get my 100 before lunch, then we can take the attack to them immediately after, and then you can hold fort Rishabh while I take the attack on and lets get these guys out of the game completely. That perhaps was the thought process,” he added.

I don’t think these numbers would matter for an Australian or an English player: Uthappa

Uthappa opined that personal achievements like scoring centuries do not mean as much to Australian or English players as it does to the Indians. He blamed the Indian media and critics for making individual milestones seem like a big deal.

“I don’t think these numbers would matter for an Australian or an English player in the long run. But for an Indian player, it matters. A hundred matters. It means a lot more because it means a lot more to the Indian media and critics alike. So hundreds and milestones are a big thing,” said Uthappa.