‘Cometh the hour, Cometh KL Rahul’ – KL Rahul yet again became India’s saviour. The dependable batter hammered consecutive Boxing Day tons against Proteas. KL Rahul roared back on his Test cricket return with a gritty ton after his Test snub 10 months back. He hammered a magnificent six to reach his three digit score.
Two years back in 2021 when India toured South Africa, KL Rahul has an opener slammed a stunning century on his very same ground, i,e Centurion as India clinched a 113 run victory. Fast forward 2 years, KL Rahul now batting at Number 6 saved India from the blushes.
While the entire batting order fumbled, save some crucial knocks from Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur, the highlight for the visitors was KL Rahul. He came to bat early on Day 1 post lunch when Iyer was dismissed. He began his innings with a cautious approach, hammering poor balls.
He reached his fifty in 80 balls and then raced towards his century early on Day 2 of the match. He slammed a mega sixer to reach his fifty and replicated the same to reach his century from 133 balls. He has struck 14 fours and 4 sixes to reach his century in some style.
KL Rahul was India’s vice captain in Test during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy back in February-March. With poor performances, he was dropped from the Playing XI after the first 2 matches. During IPL he injured his hamstring and underwent the knife. As a result he missed WTC Finals and India tour of West Indies.
After his return from injury, he played in the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup and looked in fine form. He continued to showcase his red hot form in the Rainbow Nation to help India amass a decent total on the board in the first innings.
Interestingly KL Rahul has slammed 7 centuries, all as openers for India. This is the first time he has hammered a ton batting at number 6. This however is his 2nd time batting in this position. The previous time, KL managed just 3 runs on his position.
Editors pick
