Stats: KL Rahul records his 6th consecutive fifty-plus score in Test cricket

Indian’s decision to bring back KL Rahul soon after recovering from injury and illness did pay off as the right-hander struck a fifty in the first session of the 2nd Test match at Colombo’s SSC Ground. This was Rahul’s 6th fifty-plus score in as many innings in Test format, a reason why Virat Kohli backed the opener to come good ahead of the match.

With this fifty, Rahul equalled Indian record for fifty-plus scores in 6 consecutive innings in Test cricket held jointly by Gundappa Viswanath and Rahul Dravid. Interestingly, all the three players rose in the ranks after representing Karnataka in the Indian domestic cricket.

Viswanath accomplished this feat between 1977 and 1978 where he hit 5 in a row in Australian tour in the 1977-78 season and followed it with a fifty in his first innings of the away Test series against Pakistan. Dravid hit 3 fifties in 3 innings by the end of 1997 against Sri Lanka at home and followed it with 3 consecutive fifties against Australia in the 1998 home series in March.

Four other Indian players have scored fifty plus scores in five consecutive innings all of them before the 2000s. This meant Rahul is the only Indian to hit fifty-plus scores in 5 or more consecutive Test innings since 2000. He now has a chance to equal the world record for most fifty-plus scores in most consecutive innings in Test cricket jointly held by 5 players.

Most consecutive fifty-plus scores by Indians in Test cricket:

(Stats as on August 3, 2017)