Picture Credit: Instagram
The Day 1 of second Test between India and England belonged to KL Rahul as the Indian opener got his name on the famous honours board at Lord's. The right-handed batsman became only the 10th ever Indian player to register a Test ton at the home of cricket. Having missed out on a hundred in the previous match, Rahul redeemed himself in the best way possible in second Test.
It was a tricky start for KL Rahul as English pacers bowled some tight lines under challenging batting conditions. While Rohit Sharma did the bulk of scoring, Rahul showed incredible resilience at the other end. After the dismissal of Hitman, the onus was on Rahul to ensure that India built on the solid foundation laid by both the openers.
KL Rahul's girlfriend delighted with opener's knock
Having made his comeback to the Test side only in the previous Test after injuries to Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal, there was a lot of pressure on KL Rahul to perform. The opener played a spectacular knock in the 1st Test to silence his critics. However, he absolutely buried all the doubts surrounding him with a flawless knock at the home of cricket.
As soon as Rahul completed his century with a boundary down the third man region, he heaved a huge sigh of relief as he took off his helmet and looked towards the sky. It was more of contentment than celebration as the batsman did justice to his incredible talent.
His girlfriend - Athiya Shetty - who has been by his side through thick and thin, also expressed her happiness on Instagram as she posted a story of Rahul's celebration after he completed his century. The actress added 'raising hands' and 'heart' emoji to acknowledge Rahul's masterclass.
Suniel Shetty also applauds KL Rahul
Athiya Shetty's father and famous Bollywood actor - Suniel Shetty - was also very impressed with KL Rahul's gritty knock in the second Test. The superstar posted a video of the batsman's celebration with a heart emoji and captioned the post as, "100 at the Mecca of cricket! Well played baba." It was indeed a brilliant knock by the Indian opener on Thursday, which got him well-deserved appreciation from Shetty family and fans across the country. KL Rahul ended Day 1 of second Test at unbeaten score of 127* off 248 deliveries as India’s score read 276/3 at stumps.