Sunil Gavaskar welcomes KL Rahul to his club

The India v Sri Lanka series commenced today at the Eden Gardens. With the rain gods deciding to pour out, it eventually led to a delayed start. However, there was some action on the very first ball of the game as KL Rahul edged one from Suranga Lakmal to the wicketkeeper.

Being dismissed with a golden duck, Rahul joined the unwanted club of batsmen who got out on the first ball of a Test match. Commentator Sunil Gavaskar was quick to point out the same. He went on to welcome him to the club and relived a similar incident when he was at the receiving end on the same ground.

The former legendary batsman described how it was an unplayable delivery to Rahul on the very first ball. He remarked, “All I can say to KL Rahul is bad luck, but welcome to the club.”

It was a peach of a delivery, the ball pitched on the off-stump and moved away from the batsman after meeting the deck. Rahul had no clue, not his fault it is bad luck of the batsman to face such a delivery up front. Lakmal made the most of the conditions and the pitch to give his team the best possible start.

He further went back in time to revive a similar nostalgic moment. “1983 against the West Indies, here at the Eden Gardens, caught by Dujon, bowled by Marshall. Mine was down the leg side, trying to fend off a bouncer. Ended up kissing the glove and went to Dujon.”

Lokesh Rahul went on to become only the sixth Indian batsman to be dismissed on the first ball of a Test match. Gavaskar has his name on this unwanted record list thrice. The last occasion when an Indian batsman got out on the first ball of a Test match was a decade ago. Wasim Jaffer was the batsman then.

India were 17/3 before bad light stopped play for the day only after 11.5 overs. While both the openers, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan were back to the pavilion along with skipper Virat Kohli it was Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara at the crease.