KL Rahul, the wicketkeeper-batter of India, scored a brilliant innings in the second ODI with New Zealand and rescued India out of a tricky situation. At the time of failure by the best batters, Rahul stood up and steered India to a good score.
India was on the receiving end by losing early wickets when Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer have been cheaply dismissed. At one point the half of Indian team was back in the pavilion at 191 runs. Rahul then hit an unbeaten 112 out of 92 balls on which he had full responsibility and got India to 284.
This was the eighth century that Rahul appeared in One Day International cricket. He has done well in all the batting positions that have been assigned to him over the past few years. He has played as the finisher of India and particularly in number five since 2025 and has been producing consistent results.
Another record was also broken by Rahul with this innings. He has recorded 283 runs during the past 10 overs of the ODI games (40 to 50) with a strike rate of more than 140 since 2025. This way, he surpassed New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips who had already made 244 runs during the same phase.
The reason was also that the century was special. KL Rahul became the first Indian to make an ODI century at Rajkot. It was a third ODI century in his career as a wicketkeeper. The maximum score of an Indian at the venue was 96 previously.
The knock by Rahul again showed that he is among the most reliable batters in the entire India when the team is in crisis.