Felt more comfortable after I spent some time on the wicket: KL Rahul

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Lokesh Rahul India
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Lokesh Rahul of India celebrates his century after hitting a Six. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

KL Rahul broke some records with a wonderfully compiled 158. Speaking shortly after concluding the day, Rahul stated that the biggest challenge was the humid weather of Kingston, Jamaica. The 24-year old came in as a like-for-like replacement for the injured Murali Vijay, and it was the latter who brought the drinks to the field shortly after Rahul had reached his ton. KL Rahul also went on to heap a ton of praise on Shannon Gabriel, who was clearly the pick of the bowlers of the day.

“The biggest challenge was obviously the weather, it was a very hot day. When I went into bat yesterday, the wicket was still a little two-paced and a little damp, and the ball was doing a little bit. Those were the challenges but once I got a few runs under my belt and once I spent a little time on the wicket, I felt comfortable.”

Speaking about Shannon Gabriel, Rahul said, “I think he bowled really good areas and he was challenging in every spell. We obviously know that Gabriel is one of their strike bowlers, and West Indies look at him for wickets. He comes in short bursts, in 3-4 overs, tries to bowl quick and get a few wickets. Our plan with him was to see him through and give the ball the respect it demanded and put the bad balls away. I think we did very well today and yesterday.”

“Well look, you probably have to give a little credit to the West Indies bowlers as well. They came in with a set plan this morning, to keep it tight and not give away easy runs. They tried to bowl the fourth-fifth stump channel. The wicket obviously isn’t the easiest to bat on. It is a little spongy sometimes, and two-paced. So you couldn’t play through the line or go after the bowlers when they bowled those channels.

Also read – Rangana Herath return to top ten in ICC Test bowlers Rankings

Finally, Rahul concluded that Pujara’s innings was well-constructed despite not scoring at a particularly high clip. “It’s a Test match, you have all the time in the world. We have bundled them out for 180 (196), and we still had four days to go. We were in no hurry, so we could take our time and wait for the loose balls. I think we played really well in the first session. We gave the West Indies bowlers, and the lengths and lines they were bowling, the respect it demanded. At the end of the day, we have still got the amount of runs we wanted to get. We are very happy as a batting unit.”

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