Indian batter KL Rahul has attained a milestone of 3,500 runs in Test cricket. The 33-year-old reached the landmark on Day 2 of the 3rd Test against England at Lord’s.KL Rahul, who has been India’s mainstay batter in Tests, attained the feat with his seventh run in the match.
KL Rahul has been in sublime form in the ongoing Test series in England.
KL Rahul entered the 3,500-run club in his 61st Test (106 innings). The star player, who made his Test debut in 2014, has evolved into a versatile batter. KL Rahul has propelled past 3,500 Test runs at around 35. His tally includes nine tons and 18 half-centuries. Over 2,000 of his Test runs have come overseas, including eight tons. He owns 1,149 Test runs at home.
As mentioned, KL Rahul has been showing his experience in the ongoing Test series in England. His defiant starts have bolstered India. KL Rahul scored 42 and a brilliant century (137) in the series opener at Headingley. He then managed 2 and 55 at Edgbaston.
In the series opener, KL Rahul unlocked a massive achievement in Test cricket. As per ESPNcricinfo, he now has three Test centuries in England, the most for any Indian opener. Overall, KL Rahul owns 5 fifty-plus Test scores as an opener in the nation. He is only behind the great Sunil Gavaskar, who has 10 such scores, including two centuries.
KL Rahul fuels India’s fight after Bumrah makes it to honours board at Lord’s
India finished day 2 of the third Test against England on 145/3, trailing the hosts by 242 runs in the first innings. Jasprit Bumrah starred for India with his 15th five-wicket haul while KL Rahul held fort with his brilliant half-century at the end of the day’s play.
India had an eventful day 2 of the third Test against England at Lord’s as they finished the day’s play on 145/3. Jasprit Bumrah once again rose to the occasion as his five-wicket haul helped bundle out England for 387 in the first innings. To end the day on a high, KL Rahul notched up his third fifty-plus score of the series to make sure there were no more casualties before stumps.
As India walked out to bat in their first innings, Yashasvi Jaiswal got off to a rollicking start, collecting three boundaries in the very first over against Chris Woakes. Jofra Archer ran in to bowl the second over of the innings, making his comeback in the Test team after a whopping four years.
The speedster had an instant impact as he made Jaiswal edge to first slip, dismissing him for 13 and sent the entire crowd into a frenzy. Karun Nair walked in at number three in desperate need of runs and scratchily survived through a hostile spell from Archer. Nair and KL Rahul saw off the tricky phase as India went into tea on 44/1.
Nair once again failed to convert his start into a big score and fell prey to Ben Stokes, who dismissed him for 40 courtesy of a brilliant diving catch by Root at first slip. Root also etched his name in the history books as he registered most catches in Tests, leaving Rahul Dravid behind in the list.
Nair’s dismissal brought Shubman Gill to the crease, who was fresh from a Player of the Match performance in the second Test. Stokes had some interesting field set up for the India captain, catching men on the leg side for a pull. However, they were not needed at all as Gill ended up edging Woakes into wicketkeeper Jamie Smith’s gloves for 16.
After Gill’s departure, Rishabh Pant walked in at number four, fighting a finger injury which kept him off the field during England’s innings. The southpaw didn’t dance down the track during his brief stay at the end of the day’s play and supported KL Rahul brilliantly, who brought up his 19th Test half-century. KL Rahul and Pant added 38 runs for the fourth wicket by stumps as the day witnessed the loss of a whopping 15 overs with just 75 overs being bowled on Day 2.
KL Rahul’s resillience and determination was applauded by Former Indian batter now commentator Sanjay Manjrekar as he touched upon all the responsible knocks played by KL Rahul on various occasions in the previous 2 Tests vs England.
Sanjay Manjrekar is in all praise of KL Rahul’s responsible 50 vs Eng in the 3rd Test at Lords
KL Rahul was clinical in his approach and played a mature knock to thwart the challenge posed by the England bowlers, especially pacer Jofra Archer, on the second day of the third Test at Lord’s, said former India batter now commentator Sanjay Manjrekar .
KL Rahul, who scored a century in the first Test, struck his second fifty of the tour — an unbeaten 53 off 113 balls — to keep the England quicks at bay even as he lost partners regularly. India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal (13), Karun Nair (40) and skipper Shubman Gill (16) on day 2 to be 145/3 and trailing the hosts by 242 runs in the first innings. During his interaction, Sanjay Manjrekar also touched upon KL Rahul opting to play responsible knocks in pursuit of helping India build a big total.
When asked about KL Rahul’s importance on Day 3 of the Lord’s Test , Sanjay Manjrekar said :
“KL Rahul has taken even more responsibility on this trip. He’s got an attacking game, but he’s just shut it out, and flawless defense. Even against Jofra Archer with the new ball, it looked like he could manage him easily. So, he’s gonna be crucial for India.”
KL Rahul is India’s third-highest-run-getter in the series with 289 runs in five innings at an average of 72.25 with one century and two half centuries.
Only 155 overs being bowled in two days is pretty slow going for this Test match, particularly with no rain and no truly significant delays: while 7 overs were lost on Day 1, nearly 20 were lost on a snail’s-pace Day 2, as constant ball changes and niggling short breaks added up for a really bad look in terms of over rate.
Fans, especially showing up for Day 3, will be hoping for a far more urgent and sharp game managed by the umpires, one which will allow the maximum amount of cricket to be played — because what is being put on the field is building towards another dramatic conclusion.
India head into Day 3 trailing by 242 runs, having scored 145/3 in their effort towards the end of the second day. There’s good news and bad news for the team: while Shubman Gill was finally undone early by England finally succeeding in a plan against him, KL Rahul matched on with another one of his patient and completely chanceless innings to reach a well-made half-century.
Rahul will be crucial to the remainder of India’s efforts as they try to haul down the remainder of this deficit — but as will his overnight partner Rishabh Pant, who is fighting through a heavily-bruised finger to try and play an important role for his team after being forced off the field on Day 1. Pant’s ability to maintain positivity and momentum in the innings will be crucial, and while his defensive technique has been sound as ever, the hope will be that he doesn’t try anything too extravagant and over-wrought with risk earlier than he has to.
The good news for India is that there is plenty of batting to follow, with their core of three all-round talents sitting ready in the wings to extend this innings if need be. They won’t want it to get that far: a win for the visitors will be contingent on KL Rahul translating this to a big one and getting his name on the Lord’s Honours Board again. In his way will be a charged up England bowling unit spearheaded by Jofra Archer, but finding plenty of spice through Brydon Carse and a man who is completely unplayable at this venue on his day in Chris Woakes.
England have the runs to work with, which has allowed Ben Stokes to go for the kill and be uber-aggressive with his tactics — already landing him the big big wicket of Shubman Gill in the last hour of Day 2. But there is still work to be done, and with one particular man at the crease, that lead could rapidly shrink. England are probably slight favourites at the outset of Day 3 given they have the runs to work with, and Stokes and his men will want to make that advantage count.
The pair of KL Rahul(53*) and Rishabh Pant(19*) have built an unbeaten 37-run stand to infuse confidence into the side, as they are 145/3 in pursuit of 387 and a lot would depend on them when Day 3 resumes for India.
Also Read:Â ENG vs IND : Shubman Gill Appointed Test Skipper For Red Ball