KL Rahul's century has to be in top ten of India's Test history: Sunil Gavaskar

Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has lavished massive praise on KL Rahul after the Karnataka batter scored a brilliant 101 in the first Test against South Africa. Rahul’s century on his Test comeback helped India to reach a respectable 245 in the first innings against South Africa at Centurion. While Indian batters struggled in pace-friendly conditions, Rahul gave a brilliant account of himself, thwarting the danger with his resolute batting.

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Gavaskar was so impressed with Rahul’s knock that he said it has to be counted among the “top 10 of India’s Test history.”

“I have been watching cricket for over 50 years now, and I can undoubtedly say this century by Rahul has to be in the top ten of India’s Test history because it’s a different pitch here,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

“A batter would not gain the confidence so easily that he has set, especially with the ball doing anything at any time.”

On Rahul’s six off Gerald Coetzee that helped the Indian to bring up his hundred, Gavaskar said, “The shot with which he reached to his hundred, no praise would be enough for it. It was a length ball, and he played a shot that you would normally see in T20s. Amazing!”

Rahul also became the first visiting batter to score multiple hundreds at Centurion with his latest ton. He had got his first hundred in Centurion in 2021. Rahul is also the second Indian wicketkeeper-batter after Rishabh Pant to smash a Test century in South Africa.

Another impressive stat for Rahul is that five of his eight Test tons have come in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries.