KL Rahul finally ended his 3,211-day-long century drought in a home test. He scored his 100 on the second day of the first test between India and the West Indies out of 190 deliveries.
The first session on Friday saw a new celebratory action as the opener removed his helmet, lifted his bat toward the dressing room in acknowledgement of the applause, and then placed two fingers in his mouth — a gesture seemingly dedicated to his newborn daughter, Evaarah.
Among the loud chants of “KL Rahul, KL Rahul” from the vacant stands, the head coach, Gautam Gambhir, seemed visibly pleased beside the support staff.
Before Friday, Rahul’s last home century was against England in December 2016. That was the test in which Karun Nair scored his famous triple hundred. The opener has been in sensational form. He scored two hundreds in India’s 2-2 draw in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. He finished the five-Test series with 532 runs. His average was over 50 runs per innings.
The red-soil pitch in Ahmedabad is far from the easiest to bat on. While the West Indies scored 162 in their first innings, India has shown much resilience.
Rahul secured 12 boundaries, clearing the century pathway, and stuck with his bat till 100 at lunch. India went into the interval at 218 for 3, holding a first-innings lead of 56 runs over the West Indies.
