We need to be careful here. Rain has not stopped play. Umpires have because it is raining.

Just to clear the air—rain, really, looks the same anywhere in the world. Kolkata or Kingston. It’s just that the timing of it can make some things look bad. And that’s where the perception changes—not because of the rain, but because of when it chose to arrive.

Thank you, Ayaz. No one, and I say this with all the weight of cricketing history behind me, no one has ever captured the essence of Test match strategy quite like that, the cricketing equivalent of discovering that water is, in fact… wet.

India will have to take all the factors into account before they declare - England’s scoring ability, the fickle English weather, the overs left in the game… and Prasidh Krishna.

Because they haven’t declared, not batting would effectively amount to forfeiting the game.

We often see rain stopping play, but never play stopping rain. Life, you see, isn’t always a level playing field, even when the covers are on.

And once the cats and dogs are gone, we’re expecting some ducks to arrive.

If the umpires opt for an early lunch, England can’t protest that they’ve just had a heavy breakfast. Cricket is the only place where the umpires decide when you’re hungry. There is a reason why we love this game.

Most importantly, while you can eat lunch in a lunch break & drink tea in a tea break, you can't drink rain in a rain break.

Remember the name!

KP is a good friend, and trust me, when he says don’t let the bowlers bowl to you, he doesn’t mean you charge down the track and attack the bowler physically.

Though he seemed to be among the wickets today, it is still quite an uphill task for Bumrah. Mind you, he’s bowling from the Nursery End.

Pant is seeing the ball like a football.

The pitch looks two-paced. It’s coming at one pace when the fast bowlers are steaming in, and quite another when the spinners are operating.

I must admit, I’m a touch uneasy with that exchange. Shubman’s clearly animated, and that’s great, but if you want a ball change, you appeal to the umpire, not ask the batsman to grow some balls. Just my opinion.

Ah, just a couple of corrections here. It’s not so much the pitch misbehaving, but the ball. And while everyone keeps bringing up the Nursery End, it’s actually the end closer to the pavilion that’s been a bit harder for the batsmen. Little things.

Washington Sundar is indeed a serious player. He hasn’t come here to do stand-up comedy.