KL Rahul, the Indian opener, praised the efforts of Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep as India avoided the follow-on just before bad light brought a premature end to the fourth day's play in Brisbane, on Tuesday (December 17). The 10th wicket pair added an unbeaten 39-run stand as India reduced the deficit to 193 runs heading into the final day's play at the Gabba.

"It's very good to see when the lower order chips in and scores runs," Rahul said at the end of Day 4. "That's something that we discuss a lot in our meetings and the bowlers work really hard on their batting as well. So, yeah, it's really good to see that they could go there and get that little partnership and avoid the follow-on makes a huge difference, knowing that there's a bit of rain around and so much of the game has been lost to rain."

While Rahul led the charge for India with the bat, stroking 84 while the rest of the top and the middle order struggled, by the time India's last two batters found themselves in the middle, they were still 33 runs shy of avoiding the follow on.

Ravindra Jadeja had extended India's fight after Rahul departed, but when he was dismissed and India were reduced to 213 for 9, Rahul admitted that he getting prepared to bat again. Even as he was unaware of Australia's plans, given that just over a day's play was left for Australia to enforce a win in the ongoing Test, it was likely that the hosts would've wanted to enforce a follow-on.

"We need to find a way to stay in the game and I think Akash and Bumrah did that at the end and, yeah, so a good way to end the day for you," he added. "At that stage, I was thinking more about going and padding up and trying to go back to bat, probably. You don't know. I mean, I'm not sure if they would have enforced the follow-on. So, I was thinking about what I needed to do with my batting. But, like I said, it's always nice to see your bowlers going out there and scoring some runs.

"They really put in the work in the nets. They work really hard. And when it mattered today, I'm happy that they could really play some shots and very exciting shots. And it was a great contest at the end. The last half an hour when they batted, not just the runs that they got, just the heart that they showed to keep away the bouncers. There's a lot of pace and bounce in the wicket.

"So, to get behind the ball, defend really well, leave the ball, hit some nice shots is really good. It will give them confidence and will give us as a group a lot of confidence."

Giving insight on the communication that was made with India's last wicket pair, Rahul said, "Yeah, it's very simple. Try and get those runs. Don't have to try and do it with a boundary. You can still knock it around, get those singles. They spread the field, so those singles were there to be taken.

"So, just to stay a bit more patient, because we saw just before the message went out, Akash tried to, I think, I don't know where he tried to hit it, but he tried to hit a boundary. So, just a message to calm it down and see if they can get five or six singles and get (to avoid) the follow-on."

Rahul has been one of India's most consistent batters in the ongoing series, in which the batting department has faltered more often than succeeding. The Indian opener, who managed to retain his spot at the top despite the return of the captain Rohit Sharma in the second Test, believes a bit of luck also helps in the process of trying to see out the early parts of the contest.

"I'm quite certain that everybody has their own set plans and they're clear with what they need to do. You also need to have a bit of luck as a top-order batter. Just a little bit that goes your way. If you can get through those first 10, 15 overs and get a bit of confidence, then you start feeling good and you start enjoying playing with the Kookaburra ball, with the pace and bounce here in Australia.

"If you look at all our batters, everyone enjoys playing on fast, bouncy wickets. We don't mind it. So, it's just about getting through those first 20, 30 balls for everybody. And everyone's trying their best to do that. It's a long series, so we've played three games, five innings now. So, I'm sure everyone will go back and come up with their own plans the next time we bat or in the next couple of games. I don't think there's anything different.

"The only thing you can do in the first 30 overs is to tighten up your defence, try and respect that the first 30 overs is the bowler's time and give them their time. Leave balls, try and play as tight as possible and then really try to cash in once the ball gets older. So, that's my plan and that's pretty simple. And I'm sure that's the plan for everybody. For some people, it works on a given day. For some, it doesn't. So, we'll all come back again in the next innings and try harder."

He was also lavish in his praise of Jadeja, who scored a crucial 77 after being included in the side for the first time in the ongoing series. Jadeja had stitched a 67-run stand with Rahul, before adding useful runs in the company of the lower order which took India past the 200-run mark before eventually ending the day on 252 for 9.