“It was to shut the noise”: KL Rahul after reaching his fifth ODI hundred against England in Pune
Xtra Time Web Desk: The reaction from KL Rahul after he reached his fifth ODI hundred against England at Pune on Friday said it all. The stylish batsman from Karnataka roared back to form with a blazing hundred. The 28-year-old has been criticized in recent times for sudden dip in form. Rahul could only manage just 15 runs in the recently concluded T20I series and had to be dropped for the fifth and final T20I. He came back strongly to score a brilliant 62 off 43 balls in the first ODI. And Friday’s knock was even more special, notching up 108 runs off 114 balls to help India reach a daunting total of 336/6.
Immediately on reaching his hundred, Rahul was seen raising his bat and helmet before kissing the India crest on his helmet. He then put down his bat and helmet and held both hands on his ears so as to stop the noise.
Reacting to his celebration mid-innings, Rahul said, “It’s self-explanatory. To shut the noise. No disrespect, but there are people out there who will try to pull you down and criticize!”
Rahul went in to bat with India slightly in trouble with 37/2. He was involved in a 121-run partnership with captain Virat Kohli before the Indian skipper was dismissed by Rashid. Rahul then added 113 runs with Rishabh Pant for the fifth wicket with the wicketkeeper-batsman playing aggressively and his senior partner holding one end up strongly.
By the time Rahul was dismissed in the 45th over, trying to send England debutant Reece Topley outside the boundary, he had scored 108 off 114 balls.
.jpg)
