KL Rahul ended 2023 with one of the all-time great overseas centuries by an India batter, battling through to a gutsy hundred against South Africa in the Centurion Boxing Day Test.
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Batting at No.6, Rahul scored 41 per cent of India’s first innings runs, and was the last wicket to fall, finishing on 101 off 137. No other batter scored more than 38.
When Rahul came out to bat, India were 92-4, having lost their first three wickets for 24 runs. Despite little support from the other end, and rain intervening on the opening day, Rahul maintained a steady pace, remaining unbeaten on 70 overnight.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 27, 2023
ODI comeback – HUNDRED
Test comeback – HUNDREDOnly KL Rahul! 💯🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/C1AWDmxLf0
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) December 27, 2023
Hundreds in SENA in the first innings after India were asked to bat*:
2 KL Rahul
1 Gundappa Viswanath
1 Sachin Tendulkar
1 Virender Sehwag
1 Ajinkya Rahane
1 Rishabh Pant
1 Ravindra Jadeja*the filters probably indicate that the conditions were tough for batting
— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) December 27, 2023
Let your bat do the talking @klrahul 💯👏👏 #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/SYELwF8pGM
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) December 27, 2023
A century that KL Rahul will be extremely proud of. Everyone goes through ups and downs but this young man, as some of us have been saying for a while, is a very rare talent.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 27, 2023
Am so glad to see @klrahul answer his critics the best way any champion batsman can : score runs and then more runs. Every time he failed, the critics, esp on social media, kept targeting him, maybe because they were looking for a soft target. Form is temporary, class is…
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) December 27, 2023
I have been in proteas dressing room room for 12 long years and have seen many test matches in centurion and also some great knocks. In all fairness this 💯 from KL Rahul is the best ever in this venue and his name has to be written on top of the honours board.
— Prasanna (@prasannalara) December 27, 2023
Gutsy knock in challenging conditions. The discipline and shot selection absolutely spot on 👌🏽Really liked how late he played and when he played his shots there were no half measures. Well played @klrahul 👏🏽 #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/9JXu1J2Bie
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) December 27, 2023
One of the finest overseas Test 💯 by an Indian batter I have ever seen… Take a bow @klrahul 🙌
A 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ to be remembered for tremendous application, resilience, class and exquisite strokeplay under severe crisis! Breathtaking innings man! 🏏🔥#INDvsSA #KLRahul pic.twitter.com/AOAcUvI6Vg
— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) December 27, 2023
