“Showed some character out there lad”: Yuvraj Singh praises KL Rahul for scoring maiden Test century vs South Africa at Centurion

Yuvraj Singh praises KL Rahul after latter’s maiden Test ton on South African soil put India in dominant position after Day 1 in Centurion.

Team India opening batter KL Rahul displayed an exhibition of class batsmanship against South Africa on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test by smashing his maiden ton on African soil and his 7th overall at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.

With his fellow Karnataka team mate Mayank Agarwal (60 off 123) playing the role of the aggressor during the duo’s 117-run stand for the first wicket, Rahul was the calmer influence loaded with consummate discipline while leaving the deliveries outside off with a perfect judgment of his off-stump.

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He soon had to take the centre stage after both Mayank and Cheteshwar Pujara (0 off 1) were dismissed by speedster Lungi Ngidi off successive deliveries during the 41st Over.

Rahul then, alongside skipper Virat Kohli (35 off 94) and later Ajinkya Rahane (40* off 81) got involved in crucial partnerships to bring up his 7th Test ton for Team India, and finished the day with an unbeaten 122* thereby placing the team in a comfortable position at 272/3 at Stumps on Day 1. This was Rahul’s sixth overseas century.

Yuvraj Singh praises KL Rahul

Former Team India all rounder Yuvraj Singh took to his social media handle to congratulate and praise the 29-year-old for his maiden ton versus on African soil and against South Africa to enter the list of rare Indian opener batters to smash tons outside the subcontinent.

He praised Rahul for displaying some fine character and also hailed Agarwal for his crucial half-century.

With this, the wicketkeeper batter from Karnataka has become the first Indian Test opener to score hundreds in England, Australia, West Indies, and South Africa.

He has now surpassed Virender Sehwag (4) in terms of most Test centuries by an Indian opening batter outside the subcontinent and is only behind the legendary Sunil Gavaskar (15).