Former England captain and cricket critic Michael Vaughan praised KL Rahul for his great batting in the second innings of the first Test match in Leeds. The right-handed wicket-keeper batter scored a century and made sure that his team was safe from losing. He made 137 runs from 247 balls, which included 18 boundaries.
The 33-year-old also built a big partnership of more than 190 runs with Rishabh Pant, who also scored centuries in both innings. Pant scored 134 runs in the first innings and 118 runs in the second. The first session on Day 4 was tough for batting because of cloudy weather and the pitch helping the bowlers. But Rahul and Pant batted carefully at first. Once they got used to the conditions, they started playing more shots and scoring runs freely in favour of men in blue.
Michael Vaughan said, “He is a fatherly figure in this Indian team. KL Rahul is a senior in a team full of young players. The other batters are flamboyant, and KL is the glue for the batting lineup. He has a proper Test technique. I love the flamboyant players, but you need a batter like KL Rahul in the middle.”
Sunil Gavaskar explained how Pant could play well with Rahul’s help. “With KL Rahul’s help, Rishabh Pant was playing cut shots and leaving the ball,” he said.
Team India, headed by the new captain Shubman Gill, scored 364 runs in their second innings before all their players got out.
