Chennai [India], Dec. 18 : India opener Lokesh Rahul, who fell agonisingly short of his maiden test double century in the ongoing Chennai Test against England, on Saturday said it did hurt as he missed the chance of reaching the milestone, before admitting that the pressure of getting a double hundred got him.
Rahul, who struck his fourth hundred on the third day of the fifth and final Test, was unfortunate as he got out just one run short of his maiden double hundred in the last hour of the day.
The elegant right-hander made 199 before throwing his wicket away, head-in-hands, after the anti-climactic end to a stellar 311-ball knock.
Rahul was out caught by Jos Buttler off Adil Rashid's bowling when he tried to chase a wide one. Addressing the presser after the end of the day's play, Rahul said, "It was a good day till I got out.
Throughout the day I was hitting the ball in the middle and the chances that I took came off. Everything was looking good but it was just unfortunate that the pressure of getting a double hundred got to me." "I am very happy at the end of the day.
199 runs aren't easy to get but missing out on a double hundred obviously hurts. I'll go back home happy that I got 199 crucial runs for my team," he added. The 24-year-old right hander aslo featured in century-plus stands with opener Parthiv Patel (77) and number five Karun Nair (71*) to provide the bedrock of India's reply.
At Stumps on Day 3, India were comfortably placed at 391-4, and still trail by England's first innings score of 477 by 86 runs.
Source: ANI
