The Indian batters were forced to brave a tricky period of play late in the evening on Day 3 of the Leeds Test. England's rapid charge towards their first-innings 471-run total meant the visitors entered the second innings with a six-run cushion in their pocket.

The conditions on Sunday evening stood in stark contrast to the Leeds of Friday morning, when bright sunshine welcomed Indian openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal to make the most out of a flatbed pitch.

Even as Jaiswal poked hard to fall caught-behind and debutant Sai Sudharsan's busy stint cut short with a chip to the short mid-wicket fielder, Rahul remained stoic and solid while flaying the England pacers with his exquisite strokeplay.

India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar remarked that despite the Karnataka batter's immaculate potential, Rahul has yet to convert his talent to consistent performances in international cricket. No visiting opener has recorded more runs than Rahul in England since his first appearance here in 2018. Interestingly, Rahul has not struck a Test century at home since 2016, in a period that has marked four hundreds in England and South Africa.

"Total team man. He has even been asked to keep wickets.

He does that for the team, and that's what you want in the team. You see the way he reacts to the situation. He's got an equanimity about him, which is so rare because in today's day and age where everybody's got to be doing things to show that they have achieved something, his celebrations are also muted. One thing everybody agrees about KL Rahul is that he doesn't know how good a player he is. I mean, he would agree," said Gavaskar.

Rahul's blazing strokeplay meant he added 47 runs on the back of seven boundaries, leading India to stumps at 90 for two alongside skipper Shubman Gill.

Praising his technical perfection and the purity of the cover drive, Gavaskar said he could keep raving about the India opener's shot-making.

"He's got so much talent. Look at all the shots on the offside, leg-side, the flick, everything. All the shots, but he hasn't lived up to that. Now, that could be a bit of self-doubt in his mind or whatever that sometimes keeps the Bangalore boys from fulfilling their potential," said Gavaskar.

"Thrilling to watch off the front foot, off the back foot, then the straight batter drive, which we saw just now and the cover drive.

I can rave about that cover drive because there's perfection in that."

"I hope that he comes good in this series and scores over 500, maybe 700 runs. That would be fantastic from India," he added.

"I hope that he comes good in this series and scores over 500, maybe 700 runs. That would be fantastic from India," he added.