Sam Curran rattles KL Rahul's woodwork to silence the Indian fans

Rahul went for an ambitious drive through the covers.

Published - 02 Aug 2018, 17:52 IST | Updated - 02 Aug 2018, 17:52 IST

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Prior to the first Test between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, there was a lot of speculations surrounding KL Rahul’s inclusion in the lineup. Eventually, he was named in the eleven. He replaced Cheteshwar Pujara, who has been one of India’s prolific run-scorers in the longest format. However, the Karnataka-born batsman couldn’t make the opportunity count.

Sam Curran, England’s bowling all-rounder, provided the much-needed breakthrough when he dismissed Murali Vijay, who looked determined during his stint in the middle. The left-arm seamer nipped out Rahul in the final delivery of the 14th over to help the Brits clinch the ascendancy. Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay put on 50 runs for the first wicket after which Curran spewed venom.

Curran’s delivery too hot to handle for Rahul

Rahul has played limited overs cricket over the last few months and has shown stupendous form. He tried to tread the attacking route even in red-ball cricket. Rahul could face only a couple of deliveries. He got off the mark in the first ball in a streaky manner. He tentatively poked at the leather and it sped away to the boundary of an edge through backward point.

In the second delivery, Rahul went for an ambitious drive through the covers. Curran dished out a full-length delivery and Rahul’s eyes would’ve lit up on detecting the opportunity to score some runs. Unfortunately, he was in no position to nail the stroke by any stretch of the imagination. The delivery wasn’t a special one from the speedster and Rahul wasn’t prepared to let it go.

Unfortunately, he mistimed the shot and the leather took the inside edge of the willow to crash into the stumps. The sound of the death rattle left Rahul and the Indian contingent in the crowd in utter shock. They couldn’t comprehend what had just panned out at the venue. The batsman made his way to the pavilion, dejected and shattered while Dhawan, the non-striker looked on.