It was for a day like this India has been overloading its playing eleven with batsmen. The extra batsman embedded in the middle order came in handy as India endured their first real English day of the tour in the final Test of this close to two-month long tour.
Karun Nair’s inclusion, in place of all-rounder Shardul Thakur, increased India’s bat-count to 8 and also helped India’s to reach 204/6, a respectable score in these challenging conditions. The day’s top scorer was Nair on an unbeaten 52 and giving him company was the ever-reliable Washington Sundar on 19.
Batting at No.5, Nair played an exceptional knock as he countered the swing and seam movement. He scored his runs in the final session that was played under lights and cloud cover. He would leave the length ball and wait for the short ones to punch to cover.