KL Rahul completes 3,000 runs in Test cricket

India batter KL Rahul completed 3,000 Test runs on Thursday. Rahul accomplished this milestone during the first Test of the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. During the first innings, KL played a short, but a patient knock of 26 in 74 balls, with three boundaries. However, his knock was cut short by a controversial decision. Mitchell Starc did get his wicket after being caught behind by wicketkeeper Alex Carey. However, the question was if the sound in the snickometer came due to ball hitting the bat or his bat hitting the pad. The third umpire Richard Illingworth judged him to be out, with the ball hitting his bat.

In 54 matches, KL has scored 3,007 runs at an average of 33.78, with eight centuries and 15 fifties in 92 innings. His best score is 199. His classy centuries in Australia, South Africa and England have made him a reliable option in overseas conditions, but his inconsistent run has often turned the odds against him. This year has been an up-and-down one for him in whites, having made 260 runs in six matches and nine innings at an average of 32.50. He has scored two fifties, with his best score being 86.

Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. They ended the first session with 51/4 on the board, with Rishabh Pant (10*) and Dhruv Jurel (4*) unbeaten. Starc and Josh Hazlewood took early wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal (0), Devdutt Padikkal (0), Virat Kohli (5) as well.

India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj

Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. (ANI)