KL Rahul Breaks Azharuddin’s ODI Record with Impressive Century Against NZ

Rajkot:

The jam-packed stadium at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot was expecting Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to shine in the second ODI against New Zealand. However, it was KL Rahul who hogged all the limelight with the bat as the wicketkeeper-batter stepped up for the hosts after the two stalwarts couldn’t convert their starts earlier. In fact, Rahul stood up with his eighth century in ODIs when almost none of the Indian batters, apart from Shubman Gill, crossed the 30-run mark.

In the process, Rahul also surpassed former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin’s tally in the 50-over format. The latter could notch up only seven tons during his 334-match ODI career. However, Rahul did so in only the 93rd ODI of his career, stepping up in tough times for the team. He also became the first Indian player to score a century at the venue in ODIs, surpassing Shikhar Dhawan who was earlier dismissed in the 90s.

Thanks to Rahul’s majestic knock, India posted 284 runs on the board in their 50 overs for the loss of seven wickets as he remained unbeaten on 112 runs off just 92 deliveries. He smashed 11 fours and a six during his stay in the middle after coming out to bat in the 22nd over of the innings.

Rahul stitched crucial partnerships with Jadeja and Reddy

It wasn’t easy for KL Rahul in the middle as the pitch turned a bit in the middle overs. Virat Kohli also got out for 23 runs soon after he came out to bat. However, Rahul didn’t deter and paced his innings superbly. He stitched 73 runs for the fifth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja to rebuild the innings and then launched the attack to the New Zealand bowlers in the death overs.

The crisis man of Team India, KL Rahul, made sure that India posted a decent total on the board, which, at one stage, looked extremely tough given the way the Kiwis were bowling. With the series up for grabs, India will have to bowl well now to defend the target of 285 runs. The average first innings score at this venue is 322, which is why, for now New Zealand will be the happier side but even they will need someone to play a KL Rahul-like innings in the chase.

Also Read

          </div>

function loadFacebookScript(){ !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’); fbq(‘init’, ‘529056027274737’); fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’); } window.addEventListener(‘load’, (event) => { setTimeout(function(){ loadFacebookScript(); }, 5000); });