IND vs AFG: KL Rahul rides with luck to continue good Test form, reaches 12th hundred

KL Rahul continued his fine form in Test cricket as he scored his 12th hundred in the format against Afghanistan in the only Test between the two teams in Mullanpur. Rahul reached the milestone in 164 balls, but his luck changed as the match progressed.

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Rahul hit 11 boundaries during his knock. The hundred comes on the back of his superb form in 2025, which saw him score 813 runs from 10 matches and cement himself at the top of the order for India. This was Rahul’s first game as the team’s new vice-captain and it wasn’t the best of starts.

Afghanistan continued to bowl good lengths, especially targeting Rahul on the offside and trying to get him to play in front. Rahul needed time to get going and hit a boundary to get off the mark. However, the strokeplay lacked rhythm and he got lucky in the 11th over.

While facing Ziaur Rahman Sharifi, Rahul went for a run and the ball went straight to the keeper. While the Afghanistan players celebrated, Rahul stood his ground as the umpire also indicated that there was no advantage.

Hasmatullah Shahidi decided not to go for the review and UltraEdge showed that there was a scratch on the ball. From that point on, Rahul started to find his mojo and relaxed to let the runs flow.

Rahul got to his fifty right after lunch as he started with a couple of boundaries. He allowed his sidekick Sai Sudharsan to take charge and decided to be more careful and decisive in his shooting.

Rahul hit just one boundary between the 33rd and 48th overs, focusing more on his batting rotation and allowing skipper Shubman Gill to take charge as well. The Indian vice-captain got another boundary to move to 97. A single and a double later, Rahul reached his hundred.

But misfortune struck soon after when he went for an expansion shot and was caught by Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

– The end

Published on:

June 6, 2026 3:21 PM IST