'When he's in form, he has to carry it on and not get complacent': Maninder Singh's advice to KL Rahul

After batting phenomenally in the first two Tests against England, opener KL Rahul found it difficult to score runs in the ongoing third match at Headingley. He scored a fighting hundred at Lord’s but in Leeds, he couldn’t do much with the bat in hands. He was out for a four-ball duck in the first innings and then scored just eight runs in the second.

Former India cricketer Maninder Singh shared his thoughts on Rahul’s dismissal in both innings of the third Test, stating that the opening batsman must have learnt an important lesson.

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Speaking with ESPN Cricinfo, Maninder said: “It can happen to anybody after you had a couple of great Test matches. The way he got out in the first innings started to create doubts in his mind that 'am I good enough to bat on these kinds of surfaces where the ball is seaming around and swinging.' As far as KL Rahul is concerned, it is a lesson for him that when he is in form, he has to carry it on and not get complacent like he did from the first innings because you start doubting your technique.”

After Rahul’s dismissal on the third day, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara scored their respective half-centuries as India posted 215 for two, keeping the game very much alive with two more days remaining.

If Rohit's (59 off 156 balls) near-impregnable defence during the first hour in all games has been a revelation in this series, Pujara’s array of attacking strokes certainly left his critics and fans amazed. The latter returned unbeaten on 91 at stumps. His innings was laced with 16 boundaries.

India trail England by 139 runs with eight wickets in hand.