Latest news with #KLRahul
News18
4 hours ago
- Sport
- News18
Parthiv Backs KL Rahul To Score More: 'Often Seen Him Start A Series Well But..'
Last Updated: Parthiv Patel praised KL Rahul's performance in the Test series against England, scoring 508 runs in eight innings with two centuries and two fifties, India's second-highest. Former Indian cricketer Parthiv Patel shared his views on KL Rahul's consistent performance and his record at The Oval, where the fifth and final Test of the series against England will be held from July 31 to August 4. KL Rahul has been in excellent form in England, scoring 508 runs in eight innings at an average of 72.57, including two centuries and two fifties. He is India's second-highest run-scorer in the series. This has been his most successful Test series to date, and in the absence of star batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Rahul has stepped up as the senior statesman of the team. Speaking on 'Match Centre Live', JioStart expert Parthiv Patel praised Rahul, saying, 'I think the way KL Rahul has batted throughout this series has been impressive. In the past, we've often seen him start a series well but struggle to maintain that form. This time, however, he has shown remarkable consistency and batted with great responsibility. He also enjoys batting at The Oval — remember, in 2018, he scored a brilliant hundred there alongside Rishabh Pant. So, I'm sure there's more to come from KL Rahul." What KL Rahul Has Done On The Tour Of England? Rahul is now chasing his third century of the series and his fifth in England. He could become the first Indian opener to score three centuries in a single series in England. He is also chasing Sunil Gavaskar's record of 19 fifty-plus scores in SENA countries, having already registered 12 such scores. On Saturday, he became only the second Asian batter after Gavaskar to score over 500 runs in a series in England. To date, Rahul has scored 10 Test centuries, nine of which have come outside India, with seven in SENA countries. He is just 13 runs away from his eighth SENA century. Despite his success in overseas conditions, which is a hallmark of a great Indian batsman, Rahul has struggled with consistency throughout his career, scoring 3,765 runs in 62 Tests and 109 innings at an average of 36.20. He has 10 centuries and 19 fifties, with a highest score of 199. (With inputs from ANI) view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
News18
6 hours ago
- Sport
- News18
'One Bad Test At Lord's...': Shubman Gill Has 'Answered Questions' Brilliantly
Shubman Gill has amassed 722 runs so far on the England tour including four centuries and is averaging 90.25. Parthiv Patel is hopeful that India captain Shubman Gill will deliver another significant performance with the bat in the upcoming fifth Test against England, starting at The Oval on Thursday. In the four matches played so far, Gill has accumulated 722 runs, including four centuries, with an average of 90.25. The right-handed batter is also just 11 runs away from surpassing Sunil Gavaskar's record for the most runs scored in a Test series by an Indian captain. 'Everyone would want him to maintain the kind of form he has shown. There were a lot of questions raised earlier in this series – about his struggles in overseas conditions, where he wasn't getting runs or converting starts. But he has answered all those questions brilliantly. Hopefully, he continues this momentum. 'Even before this fifth Test match, people were talking, and that too after he had already scored 600 runs in the series. One bad Test at Lord's, and questions started coming up again. So, I really hope Shubman Gill delivers another big contribution in this crucial final Test," said Patel, who saw Gill as Gujarat Titans' assistant coach in IPL 2025, to JioHotstar. Besides Gill, senior opener KL Rahul has been a consistent run-scorer for India with 511 runs at an average of 63.87. 'I think the way KL Rahul has batted throughout this series has been impressive. In the past, we've often seen him start a series well but struggle to maintain that form. 'This time, however, he has shown remarkable consistency and batted with great responsibility. He also enjoys batting at The Oval – remember, in 2018, he scored a brilliant hundred there alongside Rishabh Pant. So, I'm sure there's more to come from KL Rahul," added Patel. With Rishabh Pant ruled out due to a fractured right foot, Patel has backed Dhruv Jurel to be in the playing eleven as wicketkeeper-batter. Whenever Pant was absent from keeping duties due to injuries, Jurel stepped in admirably as a substitute keeper. 'I don't think India will make any changes there. KL Rahul and Jaiswal have provided solid starts throughout the series, so there's no reason to alter that combination. I believe Dhruv Jurel will be the designated wicketkeeper. The only question is, at what number will he bat? But I'm certain we'll see him in the playing XI," concluded Patel. With IANS Inputs view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
NDTV
7 hours ago
- Sport
- NDTV
"Really Hope Shubman Gill Delivers...": Ex-India Star's Big Take For 5th England Test
Former wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel said he is hopeful of skipper Shubman Gill delivering another huge contribution with the bat in the upcoming fifth Test against England, starting at The Oval on Thursday. In four matches played so far, Gill has amassed 722 runs, including hitting four centuries at an average of 90.25. The right-handed batter is also 11 runs shy of surpassing Sunil Gavaskar's record of the most runs scored in a Test series as an Indian captain. "Everyone would want him to maintain the kind of form he has shown. There were a lot of questions raised earlier in this series — about his struggles in overseas conditions, where he wasn't getting runs or converting starts. But he has answered all those questions brilliantly. Hopefully, he continues this momentum. 'Even before this fifth Test match, people were talking, and that too after he had already scored 600 runs in the series. One bad Test at Lord's, and questions started coming up again. So, I really hope Shubman Gill delivers another big contribution in this crucial final Test," said Patel, who saw Gill as Gujarat Titans' assistant coach in IPL 2025, to JioHotstar. Apart from Gill, senior opener KL Rahul has been a consistent run-scorer for India by making 511 runs at an average of 63.87. "I think the way KL Rahul has batted throughout this series has been impressive. In the past, we've often seen him start a series well but struggle to maintain that form. 'This time, however, he has shown remarkable consistency and batted with great responsibility. He also enjoys batting at The Oval — remember, in 2018, he scored a brilliant hundred there alongside Rishabh Pant. So, I'm sure there's more to come from KL Rahul," added Patel. With Rishabh Pant ruled out due to a fractured right foot, Patel has backed Dhruv Jurel to be in the playing eleven as wicketkeeper-batter. Whenever Pant was absent from keeping duties due to injuries, Jurel stepped in admirably as a substitute keeper. 'I don't think India will make any changes there. KL Rahul and Jaiswal have provided solid starts throughout the series, so there's no reason to alter that combination. I believe Dhruv Jurel will be the designated wicketkeeper. The only question is, at what number will he bat? But I'm certain we'll see him in the playing XI,' concluded Patel.
NDTV
9 hours ago
- Sport
- NDTV
"Expected To Miss Rohit Sharma But...": KL Rahul's England Heroics Get Ultimate Praise
Team India registered a magnificent draw on Day 5 of the fourth Test against England in Manchester. Already trailing 1-2 in the five-match series, the visitors stayed alive with the draw as they now aim for a win in the fifth and the final Test. Records were shattered as India out-batted their massive first innings lead with centuries from skipper Shubman Gill, all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Apart from them, it was KL Rahul, who played a 90-run knock and provided India with the much-needed momentum. Rahul, who has now taken charge as the opener after Rohit Sharma 's Test retirement, truly lived up to the responsibility in the ongoing series. Praising Rahul, former India opener Aakash Chopra stated that the 33-year-old batter is finally getting the respect he deserved. "At some point, I hope people start giving him the respect he deserves. He's playing like a tapasvi, a true ascetic at the crease. He may have missed his century, but he's been the backbone of India's top order this series," Chopra said on his YouTube channel. Chopra further state that Rahul's performance as an opener never let the Indian fans miss Rohit Sharma in the batting lineup. "We expected to miss Rohit at some point, given how good he was last time here. But KL and Yashasvi have done incredibly well. They've been solid and confident, and that's been vital," he added. Earlier, former all-rounder Irfan Pathan showered praise on KL Rahul, the unsung hero of India's hard-fought draw in the fourth Test against England. "KL Rahul played 98 balls in the first innings and more than 200 balls in the second innings. He almost played 328 balls across both innings. He has played a massive role in the draw. However, he didn't score a century. Gill, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja scored a hundred each," Pathan said on his YouTube channel. "But KL Rahul has become such an important player in the Indian Test team in the past few years, and he deserves it. He is a senior player of this Indian team, and he plays with that responsibility. I have said this before: if leaving the ball is an art, Rahul is the artist," Pathan added.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
ENG vs IND: KL Rahul — The grace of resistance
For a team that has, across this series, often appeared the more rounded and resourceful, India came perilously close to finding itself 3–1 down. Instead, it left Manchester with the series alive. A 2–2 score-line was still within reach. The draw it earned was not the product of weather or time lost. Gloomy skies lingered through much of India's second innings, but the rain never arrived. The resistance came from bat and mind, not in the least, from opener KL Rahul. I first met Rahul by the poolside at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in 2017. I was part of the PR team for the Karnataka Premier League, and an auction was due in a couple of days. Rahul was around for a shoot. Someone asked me to grab a quick Q&A with him. He was already part of the Indian setup by then, but there was no entourage, no theatre. Just a player who answered every question with clarity, patience, and a studied calm — as if deflecting attention with the same soft hands he used to play late. That was my first glimpse of his quiet discipline. Watching him at Old Trafford, it struck me again how little the essential temperament had changed. Rahul playing a kneeling drive during an Intra-squad match that seemed to distill his method in a single movement — high elbow, hard hands, balance held a fraction longer than necessary. | Photo Credit: BCCI/X Even before the series began, there were signs. A photograph of Rahul in action during a quiet, intra-squad match in Beckenham was lauded online for artfully capturing his craft. Rahul played a kneeling drive that seemed to distill his method in a single movement — high elbow, hard hands, balance held a fraction longer than necessary. The ball disappeared, but he remained exactly where the stroke demanded him to be, composed and precise. It was not a shot that sought applause. It was an act of alignment. At Old Trafford, he brought that same stillness into sharper focus. Earlier in the week, Kevin Pietersen had posted a reflection that seemed to echo across the Old Trafford outfield: 'Cricket is a team sport played by individuals. It's actually more of an individual sport than one thinks.' It's the kind of statement that sounds provocative until you watch a Test unfold. Sessions ebb and flow. Matches turn on a single spell or a solitary stand. And then it becomes plainly true — especially when one of those individuals chooses stillness over spectacle. Rahul remains a curious case in Indian cricket. Elegant in method, classical in set-up, yet oddly unfulfilled in record. Until this tour, he had never made more than one hundred in a Test series or crossed 400 runs. His average hovered, stubbornly, in the low thirties. And yet, few batters have looked more at home in English conditions in recent times. ALSO READ | ENG vs IND 4th Test: The theatre of refusal At Old Trafford, he reminded everyone what a proper opener looks like. There was a quietness to his innings. Unshowy, even subdued, but it had weight. This was the fourth time in as many Tests that he had crossed fifty, a run of consistency that has long eluded him. His half-century came in 141 deliveries and featured just three boundaries. It was an innings shaped less by strokes than by stillness; Rahul doing his usual thing: playing late, picking his moments, and being decisive about what to play and what to leave. His defence was immaculate, his tempo deliberate. For long stretches, he played the silent partner to Shubman Gill's more expressive repertoire. Together, they added 184 runs. A stand that began with India at none for two, and will now go into the books as the highest third-wicket partnership in Test history after a team has lost both openers without scoring. The previous best — 105 by Mohinder Amarnath and G. Viswanath at Melbourne in 1977 — was left far behind. They batted for 417 deliveries, the longest stand by Indian batters in England since 1998. Not since the days of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly at Trent Bridge has time been occupied so meaningfully by an Indian pair here. Bit by bit, the needle moved. The ball grew older, the pitch quietened, Ben Stokes wasn't bowling. The advantage wasn't seized all at once but accumulated slowly, through spells and sessions. Eventually, as ever, England turned to its captain. Stokes had not bowled on day four, and his body remains a reluctant partner. But he willed himself through two morning spells. Grimacing, pausing, stretching, he summoned the delivery that broke through — a skidding in-swinger that tailed in and trapped Rahul on the pad. The ball kept low, a true Old Trafford grubber, and Rahul, with barely a glance at the umpire, walked. Ben Stokes of England celebrates after dismissing KL Rahul of India during Day Five of the 4th Rothesay Test Match between England and India. | Photo Credit:The dismissal felt heavier than a mere number. Rahul's 90 won't find space on a list of milestones, but it mattered more than most hundreds. It was the kind of innings that rearranges conversations. With it, he became the first visiting opener to cross 500 runs in a Test series in England since Graeme Smith's 714 in 2003. Only Gavaskar has made more as an Indian opener on English soil. Rahul now has 511 runs this series, and 1125 career runs in England, already past Virat Kohli's tally. If form and conditions permit, he may soon overtake Dravid (1376) and Gavaskar (1152) on that list too. He had faced the conditions, played the pitch on its terms, and absorbed the rhythms of a Test match that seemed to drift before snapping back into tension. In the end, he did enough. The series is still alive. A final word remains unsaid. And in the margins, Rahul's innings will linger. Not for its brilliance, but for its restraint. In a series that has often veered between chaos and collapse, this was a rare moment of poise.
