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KL Rahul’s majestic century in the 1st India vs South Africa Test at Centurion has left several noted former cricketers speechless. Rahul peeled off the 8th Test century of his career – arguably the greatest of his career thus far – as his resilient effort and partnerships with the tail propelled India to 245. Rahul was the last man out for India on 101 but not before he added 54 runs with the last two wickets. Resuming on 208/8, Rahul switched gears to bring up his century, leaving the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri extremely pleased.
Gavaskar in fact, paid a huge compliment to Rahul, labelling his knock as one of the top 10 innings played by an Indian in Test cricket. Imagine the magnality of this compliment. With so many Indian greats gracing Test cricket, and with over 200 centuries scored, that Rahul is in the top 10 speaks volumes of his knock.
“An innings to remember. Watching cricket for the last 50 years, but I can surely say that this hundred by Rahul is in the Top 10 centuries scored by Indians in Test cricket,” he said after the end of the Indian innings while talking on Star Sports.
Also Read: India vs South Africa Live Score, 1st Test Day 2
Like Gavaskar, Shastri was equally impressed with the quality of Rahul’s innings. He has scored Test centuries in the toughest of conditions – Australia, England, and even South Africa – the last time he was here – but Shastri, who has been part of the Indian coaching side during all of those hundreds, called this Rahul’s best by a long shot. One of the aspects of Rahul’s batting which stood out was that he shepherded the tail without compromising them. He never treated either Bumrah, or Siraj as if they didn’t have the ability to hold up one end, which in turn, allowed better synchronization.
Furthermore, Shastri expressed confidence in Rahul’s permanent spot in India’s Test middle-order. The outcome when Rishabh Pant reenters the line-up is uncertain, but considering Rahul’s current career resurgence, he unquestionably deserves to retain his place in the Test Playing XI, reckons the former India coach.
“Just the quality of his strokeplay, the application, trying conditions… he sussed them well. And I just loved his intent. Be it in attack, or defense, he was superb. By a country mile, his best hundred. And one of the best centuries you will ever see by an Indian overseas. I think these were testing conditions, and he was brilliant. He made it look easy and he has surely cemented his place in the middle order. Whether he continues keeping or not, India should certainly look at him at No. 5 or 6 on a regular basis,” Shastri pointed out.
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