Mangaluru: K.L Rahul’s maiden International test century against Australia, one of the dominant test teams of world cricket, elated Mangaluru on Thursday.
Rahul got to his century just before the tea break on the third day as he glided a Ryan Harris delivery through backward point to the fence. He took 253 deliveries to get to the ton and it would have been especially sweet after the manner in which he had played in the previous game.
Having been out slogging across the line batting down the order in both innings in Melbourne, this was a chance to prove himself in the more familiar opening role, and he did not disappoint. There was happiness all over particularly in Mangaluru, after K.L Rahul who hails from the region managed to hit a boundary, which got him century.
Rahul had struck 12 fours and one six, latching on to anything short from the spinners and scoring heavily square of the wicket on both sides, and through cover. His partnership with Kohli had reached 137 runs by tea and with the second new ball claimed shortly before the break, Australia needed wickets in the third session.
It was a different Rahul one saw in this game. In fact he batted with the aplomb that’s usually been shown by Murali Vijay in this series and by former Indian maestro and namesake Rahul Dravid before him. As the number of balls he faced suggests, he was ready to grit it out in the middle on what was arguably a track more out of the sub-continent than Australia and even as the Aussie bowlers looked to bowl their channels and set defensive fields, he was happy to absorb all the pressure.
However, there were a few moments of alarm too for Rahul. He looked to have gloved it to short-leg in the first session but the appeal from the fielder and Brad Haddin was a below-par one and the umpire decided against giving it out. Then, an attempted whipping pull off Shane Watson got a top-edge on it and Steven Smith spilled a sitter running to his left, probably because of the Spyder-Cam wire above him.
And there was a moment when he could have been run-out as he attempted a single earlier in the day. Virat Kohli wasn’t too interested and Rahul slipped while turning back, but the fielder threw it at the wrong end. India went into the tea break at 234 for two from 85 overs.
His first coach Jayaraj Mutthu told newskarnataka.com from Mangaluru that it was a proud moment for Mangaluru crowd and for me as his coach. He is a self made boy and hardwork has taken him there. It will motivate more youngsters of Mangaluru to play hard”, he said. There is a scope for improvement. He has lot of potential as a batsman. Its only sixty percent. We expect hundred percent from him, he adds.
With inputs from Agencies and photo courtesy: ESPN
