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KL Rahul dedicated his Ahmedabad Test century to daughter Evaarah, reflecting on his batting improvements and physical challenges.
India opener KL Rahul dedicated his century celebration to his daughter Evaarah after scoring a long-awaited home hundred against the West Indies on Day 2 of the Ahmedabad Test on Friday.
Rahul and his wife, actress Athiya Shetty, welcomed their daughter on March 24 this year, making the milestone knock particularly special for him.
“It was for my daughter,” Rahul revealed at stumps when asked about the gesture.
Back at the top of the order after a successful tour of England, Rahul admitted he felt more nervous in a preparatory game against Australia A than in this series. “I just played a game last week. I was a bit nervous there because I wasn’t on the field for 5-6 weeks. To get back into rhythm, spend time in the middle, and play four-day and five-day cricket was a challenge physically,” he said.
Rahul also mentioned the challenging conditions in Ahmedabad. “The game I played last week was even tougher. It’s been physically demanding, but it was important to get those miles in the legs. That helped me today.”
With this latest performance, Rahul has now accumulated 632 runs in six Tests in the ongoing World Test Championship (2025–27) cycle, reaffirming his significance in the team.
Why Not More Hundreds?
At the end of the day’s play, Rahul was asked why a batter of his calibre has managed just two hundreds at home. “Not sure really,” he responded.
“But yeah, over the last year or so, I think the main thing I’ve focused on is maintaining my batting tempo and enjoying the less exciting phases of the game in my own mind,” he added.
Rahul explained that he has been working hard on running singles and twos while playing at home, as the conditions often require this. In the past, he struggled with this aspect, which affected his conversion rate.
“Obviously, when you play abroad in seaming, swinging conditions with extra bounce, it presents a significant challenge. But when you return home and face three spinners with a spread-out field, you need to accumulate runs through singles, as boundaries are harder to come by.
“So yeah, that’s something I’ve worked on. I’ve had to make a mental switch to enjoy grinding out runs with singles and twos to reach hundreds. This is a change I’ve focused on over the last year or so.
“And yeah, I think that’s the only difference I can identify, and it’s probably what I wasn’t doing well previously when playing at home,” Rahul added.
(With inputs from Agencies)
Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin…Read More
Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin… Read More
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