There was still time perhaps for a grandstand finish or an outright result on day four as the Indians went to stumps leading by 366 runs. Like Jadeja and Iyer, Pujara might want a third innings himself; if Rishabh Pant decides to bat too – unlike Rohit Sharma, who decided one innings was enough for him – we might even get a low-key reprise of the final-day drama at Sydney and Brisbane early last year.
Low-key is exactly what the third day was despite a biggish Saturday crowd at Grace Road. The first spells of bowling didn’t lack intensity, though. There was not a single loose delivery in the first half hour. Overnight batter Hanuma Vihari once again looked like he didn’t have a lot of scoring options before edging right-arm seamer Will Davis behind. Saini produced a testing spell in which he had KS Bharat on the hook before getting Jadeja out for the first time with an edge through to slip.
Eventually, Kohli came out to bat, piquing the crowd interest both at the ground and on the livestream provided by Leicestershire. Bumrah vs Kohli sparkled, especially when Bumrah bowled short of a length outside off. Kohli doesn’t play the orthodox square cut, but he found a way with the flashy punch. One of them even went for a six over the short off-side boundary. Eventually, though, the shot proved to be his undoing with a catch at square gully.
A rare event occurred when Cheteshwar Pujara was stumped off the bowling of Sai Kishore. Pujara has been out in this fashion in first-class cricket only three times. Sai Kishore managed the difficult task of beating Pujara in the air and then turning the ball past his edge.
Jadeja and Iyer then saw through most of the rest of the day before a casual flick from Iyer gave Nagarkoti his second wicket, the first being that of the No. 6 Shardul Thakur.