"Why he deemed getting his 100 important before lunch" - Former cricketer blasts KL Rahul & India's mindset in ENG vs IND 2025 3rd Test

Former cricketer Robin Uthappa raised concerns over KL Rahul and India's thinking in the third Test against England. He was baffled at no one asking Rahul why he thought about getting his hundred before lunch. Notably, India lost the Test by 22 runs.

In the first innings, KL Rahul was on 99 close to the lunch break. Instead of looking to come back and get to his hundred, the batter pushed for it, which resulted in Rishabh Pant's run out at the stroke of lunch.

"Did anyone ask him why he deemed getting his 100 important before the lunch break? 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. (44:04)

The former cricketer also reflected on what he felt the conversation between Rahul and Pant could have been like.

"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 explained.

However, Uthappa was annoyed that the obvious question to Rahul was not asked. The duo added 141 runs for the fourth wicket. Pant was dismissed for 74 while Rahul got out right after getting his hundred. India slipped from 248-4 to 387 all out and could only level England's first innings total.

Talking about the importance given to milestones, Uthappa also blamed the Indian media and critics.

"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," he said. (49:00)

Adding on, Uthappa mentioned that as players are constantly under scrutiny with critics looking for reasons to cut them out, milestones become more important.

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Robin Uthappa takes a dig at IPL for celebrating Indian batters' unique milestone

Robin Uthappa also took a dig at the Indian Premier League (IPL) for celebrating a unique milestone by Suryakumar Yadav in the 2025 season. The Mumbai Indians (MI) batter became the first to score the most consecutive 25-plus scores in the league.

"Everything is a milestone right now. They've stolen the novelty that existed. I heard in the IPL, first to score 10 consecutive 25s. I'm like what? what are we at? We are overdoing the stats and milestones now. This was for Suryakumar Yadav. Common, 25 runs for Suryakumar Yadav is one over away. He has that caliber. It's him. At least make it 40 runs. I just think this whole thing about stats and milestones we wouldn't even discuss," he reflected. (41:10)

Notably, the star batter surpassed Uthappa's record (10) and scored 14 consecutive 25-plus scores in T20 cricket. He had a phenomenal season, scoring 717 runs from 16 matches at an average of 65.18 and a strike-rate of 167.91 with five half-centuries.

Moreover, he also surpassed the legendary Sachin Tendulkar as the highest run-getter for MI in a single IPL edition. Tendulkar previously held the record with 618 runs from 15 games in the 2010 season.

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Edited by Rishab Vm