Star batter KL Rahul went past 1000 runs in Test cricket in England during the fourth match of the ongoing five-Test series between England and India. He hit that mark by taking a single off the first ball of the 19th over in India’s first innings on Day 1 of the game at the famous Old Trafford in Manchester.
Rahul is now only India’s second Test opener to reach four digits in an away country. He stands close to the renowned cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. At the time of his international retirement, the Mumbai native had scored more than 1000 runs in the West Indies (1404), England (1152), and Pakistan (1001).
Only two of Rahul’s 25 Test innings in England have come as a non-opener. Both of these incidents occurred during his debut Test for the country during the 2018 tour. In two innings, he only managed to score four and thirteen runs.
KL Rahul’s test record in England:
| Matches | Innings | Average | Strike Rate | Runs |
| 13* | 25 | 42.87 | 53.12 | 1029* |
KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal Dominate First Session
The Karnataka batter’s first boundary came off a pull in front of square on the ninth ball of the innings. His second four came off Chris Woakes again. Rahul’s third and fourth boundaries were brilliant ones from Brydon Carse through the off side. At lunchtime, the 33-year-old had scored 40 of India’s 78 runs, with opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal (34*) still alongside.
KL Rahul has two hundreds and one fifty in the series’ first three matches. With only one single-digit score (2 in the second Test at Edgbaston), the experienced hitter has seemed at ease against the English bowling assault. This was also the first occasion since 1946 that India’s openers had put on a fifty-plus stand in Manchester in the longest version of the game.
