ENG vs IND | Lord's Day 4 Talking Points - Fiery Wood, Kohli's off-stump woes and the Pujara-Rahane rearguard

Going into the third innings of what has been a gripping Test thus far, it was evident that the face-off between Indian openers and the English attack would set the tone for the remainder of the game. After all, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul hadn't allowed England to exert pressure on India's vulnerable middle-order in the series yet. The pair had made England wait for 225, 67 and 262 deliveries in the first three innings respectively for an opening breakthrough. It looked no different on Sunday, with Rohit and Rahul largely at comfort during the first 30 minutes.

Swing in overs 1-10 this Test:



1st Inns - 1.4 degrees

2nd Inns - 2.0 degrees

3rd Inns - 0.5 degrees#ENGvIND

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) August 15, 2021

With not much movement on offer for James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, Joe Root opted for the raw and aggressive pace of Mark Wood. The tearaway quick injected the English bowling with more intent, purpose, and aggression right from the word go. The expected short-ball barage was expertly mixed with fuller-length stuff in between. With his continual intensity and discipline, Wood reaped dividends in just his third over, as KL Rahul nicked behind a 93mph thunderbolt through to Jos Buttler. India's first-innings centurion was back to the hut for a single-digit score.

By his fourth over, Wood was back to delivering his sharp back-of-a-length stuff. He had settled into a rhythm and invited Rohit Sharma to play the instinctive pull. Despite one flying for a top-edged six over long-leg, the 31-year-old persisted with the tactic, and in the same over, had the right-hander mistime one straight through to Moeen Ali at deep-square leg. England had managed to send back two of India's in-form men without conceding a lead to have a crack at an out-of-form middle-order.

On Sunday, it was a déjà vu of his dismissals in the ongoing series, as for the third time in a row, Kohli, with a big bat-pad gap, poked at a wide delivery from Sam Curran, which he should have ideally left. The bowler needs to be credited too, having set the right-hander up with an inswinger to follow it up with one holding its line.

In England, it's as much about leaving the deliveries well and showing precision on the fourth stump line, as much it is about playing strokes that help you achieve success. No one knows it better than the Indian skipper, who had shown monk-like patience and application when India last toured England three years ago. But this time around, the right-hander has looked closer to the 2014 version of himself. It's something India least needs, as they seek their first Test series win in England in 14 years.

On Sunday, the experienced duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara symbolized every bit of fight, resilience, courage and proper Test-match batsmanship in an epic rearguard. At 55/3, just 28 ahead of England in their second innings, the hosts needed stability and assurance, and the pair provided just that. During a resilient fourth-wicket stand of 100 runs from 297 deliveries, they weathered a short-ball barrage from Wood and Moeen's controlled off-breaks to lead India's fightback.