India’s 30 minutes of darkness

There was nothing, only darkness, as Karun Nair walked back into the shadows at Lord’s.

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The ball seems to come out of the shadows. Or, stay in them.

Karun Nair cannot see the ball. It’s been released from the Members Pavilion, and it was hurled by a massive unit that is Brydon Carse. But somewhere after that, it disappears. Is it the shadows of the late afternoon sun behind the massive bowler, or something else? The light is fine, there should be no issue at all, but that is not what it looks like. Nair thinks he’s getting a ball outside off, probably on a length or even back of. He sets up his leave for that delivery type, and receives something else entirely.

This invisible delivery is full and straight, the type you absolutely need your bat for, and his is above his head. Not only did he not see the ball, he didn’t even see the umpire’s decision. His leave was so poor that he left himself open to be hit on the leg under the pads. So Nair has gone from in and set, to out and hurt in one ball.

But what happened? How did he lose the ball so completely that he was plumb in front, not offering a shot, hobbling and hoping for his partner KL Rahul to offer him something for the review?

There was nothing, only darkness, as Karun Nair walked back into the shadows at Lord’s.

Shubman Gill has more than 600 runs in this series so far. And after his first innings failure, he still headed off to the nets for extra practice. This is a man who wants to bat. Someone who makes flowing shapes and long lines.

The first ball he faces, he almost makes a beeline for the sheds. The ball is full and swings away late, but Gill is stuck to the crease like someone has nailed his feet to the ground. The next ball beats him again.

Something is weird, it is like the lights are out, and he is groping for the ball. Like a heavyweight after a left hook to the head, he’s still going through the motions but not in any pattern that makes sense for the balls being bowled. Finally, he gets one onto the bat and he takes two - some respite. It’s as if billions of voices suddenly exhaled at once.

At the other end, Ben Stokes is bowling to KL Rahul, who is suddenly deciding to score at a rate we usually only see from him in the first innings of an IPL match. England’s captain slides down leg and he picks up another easy boundary. From there, he pushes the ball around for a few.

Then Stokes bends his back, it bounces straight into the cut shot arc, and Rahul flashes at it with little bits of saliva dripping from his lips. But the tennis ball bounces over the blade. It beats the bat, but not violently - it feels more like a missed long hop.

Carse is back at the top of his mark. Last Test at Edgbaston, we feared his toe had finally exploded, such was his struggle to bowl or field. Now, he looks like a giant stomping from in front of the Members, and his fast and full ball is nicked behind and Gill is gone. England celebrate while Gill instantly reviews.

There was a noise, but something about it felt off, like the timing was a few frames removed. Upon review it was clear he’s nowhere near the ball, or the ground. Or anything. He’s not out. But the bigger issue is that again, this was really a full toss. If he’d stepped forward, he was stuck, and suddenly it looked like a grenade was coming at him. What is very clear from the DRS is that he’s not out - and not seeing the ball right.

How can this happen? Carse is tall, but this is day four. Surely in the twilight from this end, where the ghostly faces of cricket’s past watch, we’ve seen this earlier in the match.

It turns out we did, for one ball. There was a creepy delivery at the end of day two. The bowler was Carse again, the batter was Rahul. He delivered a yorker at off stump and Rahul drops the bat on the ball, like he’s stamping it out. As if he hasn’t seen it’s a yorker until late, and then dropped his bat on it from a weird angle to save himself.

Was that moment from two days ago why they turned to Carse again now? Or are we looking for monsters that don’t exist? What’s clear is that England’s big, brawling bowler is going fuller than at any point in this match. Is it the high release? The angle? Something else? Are we seeing ghosts - or are India?