India’s current opening batsman in Test KL Rahul registers his sixth century in the longest format and managed to score that ton at the Lord’s. The 29-year-old cricketer becomes the only third Indian opener to smash a Test century at the iconic cricket venue, Lord’s. During his 127-run unbeaten inning, he also became the only 10th Indian to score a Test century at the mecca of cricket.
The first day of the Lord’s Test was delayed due to rain, the Indian openers were very particular with their shot selection in the first hour of the game. India’s first boundary came after 12.5 overs as the English bowlers were asking some complicated questions with the new ball. Rahul gathered 126 runs for the first wicket along with Rohit, which is the second-highest against England in England since 1980. After Rohit’s departure for 83, Rahul took the charge and started opening his arms. He showed respect to the good swinging deliveries and punished the bad ones. In the 78th over, Rahul scored a boundary in the third man region of Sam Curran’s bowling to become the 10th Indian to achieve the three-figure mark at the Lord’s. After Vinoo Mankad (184) and Ravi Shastri (100), the Punjab Kings skipper became the only third Indian opener to score a Test century at Lord’s. The last Indian opener to smash a century in the longest format at this historic venue was Ravi Shastri who is also the current Indian team’s head coach.
The Day 1 of the second Test concluded with the visitors in full control. After a century-stand with his opening partner, the Karnataka batsman had a 117-run partnership with the skipper Virat Kohli for the third wicket. India scored 276 on the first day at the loss of three wickets with Rahul still present at the crease, the opener will commence the batting on Day 2 along with the vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane.