England vs India: With Lord’s hundred, KL Rahul emulates Virender Sehwag’s feat as Test opener

KL Rahul has cemented his place as Test opener with a powerful begin to the Test sequence towards England in England. After scoring a chart-topping 84 in Nottingham within the first Test, Rahul showcased he’s in peak type in red-ball cricket with 100 on Day 1 of the Lord’s Test.

Rahul remained unbeaten on 127 at Stumps on Day 1 as he helped India end robust on 276 for 3. Rahul alongside together with his new opening companion, Rohit Sharma added 126 runs for the opening stand as they dominated the England assault after Joe Root gained the toss and opted to area on an overcast morning.With the 127 not out on Thursday, Rahul joined Virender Sehwag on the 2nd spot on the checklist of Indian openers with most a whole bunch exterior Asia. Rahul has hit 4 Test a whole bunch exterior Asia in simply 28 innings. He has a complete of 5 abroad a whole bunch in 24 matches.Virender Sehwag had managed 4 Test a whole bunch exterior Asia in 69 innings. Meanwhile, batting nice Sunil Gavaskar is on high of the checklist of India openers with most Test a whole bunch exterior Asia. Gavasskar had hit 15 of them in 81 innings throughout his embellished profession.Most Test a whole bunch for India openers exterior AsiaSunil Gavaskar 15 in 81 inningsVirender Sehwag 4 in 59 inningsKL Rahul 4 in 28 inningsRahul additionally turned solely the 2nd Indian opener to attain 100 on the opening day of a Test exterior Asia after the opposition gained the toss and opted to area. Navjot Singh Sidhu is the one different Indian batsman to have finished so when he hit 116 in Kingston towards West Indies in 1989.Sehwag took to social media on Thursday to congratulate Rahul on hitting his maiden hundred at Lord’s. The Kings XI Punjab skipper’s title will likely be etched on the long-lasting honours board on the venue.”Played second fiddle when Rohit Sharma was going great guns and then accelerated to score a wonderful century. Staying not out at close would have been as satisfying as scoring the hundred. Well done #KLRahul, many more today,” Sehwag mentioned in a tweet.KL Rahul was not the first-choice opener for India even after Shubman Gill was dominated out of the Test sequence proper after the World Test Championship last. However, after an eleventh hour harm to his good buddy, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul bought the chance to hitch arms on the high with Rohit Sharma in Nottingham.Rahul made good use of the chance, showcasing class and persistence for his 84 within the 1st Test. He started slowly on Thursday at Lord’s however performed with a transparent plan. After Rohit departed for 83, Rahul took the aggressor’s function and dominated the England assault with ease.Notably, it was additionally the primary time each the Indian openers scored 50-plus in the identical Test innings of a Test match performed exterior Asia since 2010. Rohit and Rahul gave India a strong platform, negating the new-ball assault in overcast situations.