England vs India: KL Rahul slams a scintillating century at Lord's, cricketing fraternity doffs its hat

New Delhi, Aug 12: In-form India opener KL Rahul played one of the finest knocks on his return in Test cricket as he slammed a classy century at the iconic Lord's against England on the opening day of the second Test on Thursday (August 12).

Rahul - who missed out on a well-deserved century in the previous Test at Trent Bridge after getting dismissed for 84 in the first innings of the opening Test - had a cautious start but need up converting it into a memorable century.

Rahul slammed his sixth ton in the red-ball format overall and second against England as the stylish Karnataka batsman earned a mention at the Honours Board at the Home of Cricket.

The right-handed batsman received a lot of praise for his fine batting effort in the first innings of the opening game under testing conditions in Nottingham, and at Lord's, he converted the good start into a well deserved century. Initially, he had a watchful start and forged a solid century-stand with Rohit Sharma.

Once Rohit was dismissed for 83, Rahul switched gears and started scoring runs at a decent pace. He went on getting past his fifty and later converted it into a century. His century stand with Rohit was the first instance when India's opening batters shared a stand of more than 100 runs in a Test played outside Asia since 2011

Rahul - who was included as a replacement to Mayank Agarwal in the opening game - displayed batting of the highest order as he constructed his innings to perfection. The stylish batsman was lauded for his impressive batting performance at the Lord's.

Here's how the cricketing fraternity and experts reacted to Rahul's resolute batting effort:

Superb innings from KL Rahul. 21% leaves is the highest percentage he's recorded in any of his six Test tons, and the balls taken to reach the landmark (212) is the second most. Patience and a willingness to soak up pressure has defined the knock. #ENGvIND

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) August 12, 2021

Missed century in first Test, gets one in second, @klrahul11 has made the an opener’s spot his own. Of course he’s had some luck with Gill and Agarwal getting injured. But with grit, ambition and runs, has shown why he’s the best man to partner Rohit

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) August 12, 2021

His name on that honours board with a knock for the ages! He has worked so hard to get back in the side. So happy to see him do well in test cricket.
PS: Look how closely he has watched the ball👀 #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/sBACN5eQI6

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) August 12, 2021

Hello, Honours Board, meet KLord Rahul!

P.S. His last Test century too came against England, at Oval in 2018.#PlayBold #TeamIndia #ENGvIND

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) August 12, 2021

Perfect openers innings @klrahul11 !! A joy to watch .. #ENGvsIND

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) August 12, 2021

A century to be proud of for #KLRahul. Loved the innings progression graphic we had showing how patient he was. First 20 took 105 balls and thereafter, he owned the crease

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 12, 2021

Rohit & KL Rahul have utilized their practice time in the UK impressively. Last time I saw Rahul play test cricket was in the Caribbean 2019. He looked uncertain & rushed then. Now, very rarely have I seen an Asian opener play as late with such assurance in English conditions👍

— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) August 12, 2021

Last five Test centuries by Indian openers 'away' from home since 2016...
3* - KL Rahul (all away from Asia)
2 - Shikhar Dhawan (both in Sri Lanka)#EngvInd#EngvsInd#IndvEng https://t.co/8i903wXXxS

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 12, 2021

💯 FOR KL RAHUL!
He gets his name up on the Lord's Honours Boards 🔥

Tune into Sony Six (ENG), Sony Ten 3 (HIN), Sony Ten 4 (TAM, TEL) & SonyLIV (https://t.co/AwcwLCPFGm ) now! 📺#ENGvINDOnlyOnSonyTen #BackOurBoys #KLRahul pic.twitter.com/QCqcZttf5G

— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) August 12, 2021

Kamaal Hai Lajawaab Hai….Lord’s Honours Board par naam hai 🥳🥳🤗 #EngvInd #Rahul

— Wear a Mask. Stay Safe, India (@cricketaakash) August 12, 2021

Batsmen mauke pey choka lagaten hain, #KLRahul century lagata hai! He was not supposed to play the first two test vs England and now has got most runs in series! Well played #Rahul pic.twitter.com/ULg1ETDxwq

— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) August 12, 2021

Missed out on a hundred in the first test , but this has been an innings of the highest class from #KLRahul.
A magnificent century at #Lords , hoping he converts this into a really big one. pic.twitter.com/ZFdW87vDhp

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) August 12, 2021

He is raising the bar and we are raising our hands in celebrating this marvellous 100 from @klrahul11 #topplayer

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) August 12, 2021

Earlier in the day, Rohit Sharma's wait to bring up his maiden Test century overseas was extended as he was dismissed for 83. The right-handed batsman from Mumbai batted exceedingly well under testing conditions but fell off beauty from their biggest match-winner.

Rohit - who threw his wicket away in the first Test at Trent Bridge - batted brilliantly and curbed his instincts to pull the ball after doing all the hard yards. Rohit notched up his half-century off 83 deliveries and it was the first occasion when the right-handed swashbuckler scored his maiden fifty outside the home.

He went on surpassing his highest individual score away from home when he reached 81* but Rohit's dream to notch up his first Test hundred on foreign soil came crashing as he was outfoxed by a peach of a delivery from Anderson.