Indian Batter KL Rahul showcased his brilliance with a splendid century in the Boxing Day test against South Africa at Supersport Park in Centurion. Rahul’s innings not only anchored the Indian innings but also demonstrated the batter’s resilience and adaptability to play in challenging conditions.
India were bowled out for 245 on Day 2 of the Opening Test on the back of Rahul’s ton. South Africa finished the Day 2 on 256/5. South Africa’s seasoned campaigner Dean Elgar scored a brilliant century. The Indian bowlers were not at their best and bowled many boundary balls, and the SA batsmen took a full toll on them.
Resilience Amidst Early Setbacks
The Indian batsmen had a rough opening day of the test match as South African bowlers breathed fire reducing India to 24/3 inside an hour of play. India could’ve been in more trouble had South Africa held on to the catches of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer when both were batting on just 4 runs. The Indian batters used the drop chances well stitching a 68-run partnership that brought India back in the game.
KL Rahul walked to the crease at 92-4. He opened his innings with an authoritative pull shot off South Africa’s premier bowler Kagiso Rabada for a four. Rahul who was playing in the middle order in tests for the first time showed a lot of resilience and composure. The Karnataka batsman played some elegant drives and stood tall at one end.
Partnerships with the lower-order
KL stitched some crucial partnerships with Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj. The wicketkeeper batsmen built a 43-run partnership with all-rounder Shardul Thakur which helped India go past the 150 mark. Once Shardul got out Rahul took the onus on himself scoring the bulk of the runs.
His 27 and 47-run partnerships with Bumrah and Siraj proved decisive in the Indian innings. The Indian batter put in a masterclass on how to bat with the tail, playing some big shots in the initial deliveries and taking singles in the last two deliveries of an over. KL also showed a great presence of mind sneaking singles of the beaten deliveries. Twice in the innings, he outsmarted the South African wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne taking byes to get on strike.
KL started unbeaten on 70 on Day 2 and played some breathtaking shots including a couple of sixes. His shot to reach the century is one of the outrageous ones. He smoked one over deep mid-wicket off Gerald Coetzee to reach his 8th test ton and his second at the Supersport Park, Centurion. Rahul would’ve loved to take India past 250 but a full delivery from Debutant Nandre Burger got the better of him.
Takeaways
This inning from KL Rahul has opened an option of playing him as a middle-order batsman permanently whenever Rishabh Pant returns to the Indian team. Rahul’s innings will put pressure on Shreyas Iyer and the other middle-order batsmen to step in big-time and score some runs. KL Rahul also became the only visiting batsman to score two centuries in Centurion.