Former India batter Robin Uthappa weighed in on the recent debate surrounding KL Rahul’s century at Lord’s, questioning the outrage over him reaching the milestone before lunch. Rahul scored a brilliant century to get his name once again on the iconic venue's honours board. The senior batter has stepped back into the opener’s role following Rohit Sharma’s retirement and has made an immediate impact with two centuries already in the series.
Embracing his new responsibility, Rahul has taken it upon himself to anchor the innings and bring much-needed stability at the top, allowing the rest of the batting line-up the freedom to play their natural game.
However, he drew criticism for prioritising his century before Lunch at Lord's, a decision that reportedly led to Rishabh Pant's dismissal just before the break.
Uthappa questioned Rahul’s approach, suggesting that someone should ask him about the thought process behind his decision-making, particularly around the timing of his century.
"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.
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'Uthappa decodes Rahul-Pant's thought process'
India had seized control of the game heading into lunch, with both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant settled at the crease. Uthappa suggested that the two may have decided to push the scoring rate at that stage. Rahul likely saw an opportunity to complete his century before the break, setting up a more aggressive approach afterward, with Pant playing the supporting role.
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{{/usCountry}}India had seized control of the game heading into lunch, with both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant settled at the crease. Uthappa suggested that the two may have decided to push the scoring rate at that stage. Rahul likely saw an opportunity to complete his century before the break, setting up a more aggressive approach afterward, with Pant playing the supporting role.
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{{/usCountry}}However, according to Uthappa, this wasn’t about personal milestones but a tactical decision to break England’s resolve and take the game away from them completely — a move rooted in match awareness rather than individual glory.
"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.