Twitter stunned after KL Rahul's maiden Test century on English soil

Indian batsman KL Rahul was drafted into the Indian Test team following his stupendous performances in the IPL and then in the limited-overs series against England. However, in the first four matches, he strained to find his feet and was dismissed cheaply on every other occasion. The most frustrating angle was that on a few instances, he perished after getting starts.

Even in the first innings of the ongoing Test at Kennington Oval in London, the right-handed batter was dismissed by left-arm seamer Sam Curran after he scored 37 runs in 53 deliveries. But Rahul came into his own in the second innings. Alastair Cook and Joe Root’s twin centuries helped the Three Lions set a mammoth target of 464 for the opposition to track down.

Rahul wields his magic

India had a horrendous start to their run chase as they lost three wickets for two runs. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli succumbed to the venom of James Anderson and Stuart Broad. With the visiting team in dire straits, KL Rahul didn’t go into his shell and rather played his strokes freely to remain not out on 46 by the end of the fourth day.

On the final day, India needed him to carry and he didn’t disappoint. He and Ajinkya Rahane played out the first hour wicket any hiccup. Unfortunately, India lost Hanuma Vihari and Rahane in quick succession. The wickets didn’t bog Rahul down and he kept attacking the bowlers. In the first ball of the 41st over, he smacked Ben Stokes over the covers for a gigantic six.

In the last ball of the same over, he smacked a boundary to accomplish his maiden Test century on English soil in 118 balls. Stokes dished out a wide delivery which was muscled down the ground by the 26-year-old batsman from Karnataka. Subsequently, Twitterati hailed him for his incredible knock.

Here is how Twitter reacted

Der se aaye, lekin durust aaye.
This innings has reinforced the point that Rahul has the skills…just needs to be consistent. Well played, KL 👏👌🙌 #EngvInd

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 11, 2018

Congrats bro @klrahul11 on a fantastic hundred. Many more to come for this outstanding young batsman. Well played 👏 pic.twitter.com/RCsPjm1ofq

— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) September 11, 2018

KL Rahul has shown what he is capable of. Hopefully, he will bat like this consistently. #ENGvIND

— Madhav Sharma (@HashTagCricket) September 11, 2018

Kl Rahul's muted celebrations was a sign of the deficit between the expectations n performance in this series. Irrespective, a superb knock and also the reason why he's special and needs to be persisted with #ENGvIND https://t.co/S6v9HEuefM

— Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7) September 11, 2018

Fabulous century, full of bold, even audacious shots, from KL Rahul. Maybe this style is indeed the way ahead for him.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 11, 2018

Centuries by Indian openers in Tests outside Asia since 2015:

KL Rahul – 3 in 16 inns (SCG, Kingston, Oval)

All other openers – 0 in 28 inns (Just two 50s)#EngvInd

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) September 11, 2018

Indian openers to score a century in the fourth innings of an away Test:

Gavaskar v WI, Bridgetown, 1971
Gavaskar v WI, Port of Spain, 1976
Gavaskar v Aus, Brisbane, 1977
Gavaskar v Eng, The Oval, 1979
S Dhawan v NZ, Auckland, 2014
KL Rahul v England, The Oval, 2018*#ENGvIND

— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) September 11, 2018

KL Rahul shows zero emotion on reaching his ton. Couldn’t be more an exact opposite of his captain.

— Rob Moody (@robelinda2) September 11, 2018

Outstanding hundred from KL Rahul. Welcome signs he has learned after not passing 36 in the first 4 Tests

— Tim (@timwig) September 11, 2018

Long sleeves, short sleeve jumper, exceptional lid, Lightweight rig, gets into the 90s with a blaze over extra cover against the hardest bloke in the opposition.

Hello KL Rahul – let me buy you small plates in Polpo. #EngvInd

— Vithushan Ehantharajah (@Vitu_E) September 11, 2018

KL Rahul has all the right ideas. When going down is inevitable, might as well go down swinging. VVS Laxman's 167 at Sydney in a hopeless cause was a great example of an inning that was inconsequential in the context of the game but had a positive impact on the player's career.

— cricBC (@cricBC) September 11, 2018

First five 100s coming in five different countries:
Inzamam-ul-Haq (first eight)
H Tillakaratne
Saeed Anwar
Jacques Kallis
Younis Khan
M Samuels
J Rudolph
A Rahane
KL RAHUL#ENGvIND

— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) September 11, 2018

KL Rahul:

First innings of the tour scored century!

Last innings of the tour scored century!

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) September 11, 2018

and we can only wonder what would have happened if this KL Rahul had turned up at the start of this series. #EngvInd

— Gaurav Guptaa (@being_GG) September 11, 2018

Possibility of the longest-surviving Test record of all being broken – C Bannerman scored 67.35% of Australia's total when he made 165 out of 245 in the Inaugural Test at Melbourne in March 1877. KL Rahul has currently scored 64.46% of India's total.#EngvInd

— Arthur_S (@allanholloway) September 11, 2018

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