Vijay Hazare Trophy: KL Rahul regains form, hits disciplined century against Kerala

KL Rahul made a big statement after being dropped from the Test squad for the upcoming series against South Africa. Playing for Karnataka in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the discarded Indian opener hit a steady century. Rahul scored 131 runs off only 122 balls to guide his team to a comfortable 60 runs victory over Kerala.

Rahul had to be circumspect at the start, as the ball was moving around. He had to be watchful as Karnataka were reduced to a 30-2 and building a partnership was the need of the hour. Rahul then got brilliant support from his skipper and another India hopeful Manish Pandey. Pandey to managed to get half-century to his name as the pair steadied the innings.

After Pandey was dismissed, followed by the wicket of Deshpande, all-rounder Shreyas Gopal then forged a stand with the opener. Rahul by that point was well settled at the crease and had started to unleash his array of strokes. They had a partnership 98 which helped Karnataka reach a competitive score of 294 all-out on the board. Rahul’s innings consisted of 10 fours and 4 sixes. It was some exceptional death bowling Basil Thampi and KM Asif which helped to keep Kerala in the contest.

A collective bowling effort from the Karnataka then allowed them to restrict Kerala to 234 all-out, handing them their second consecutive victory. Opener Vishnu Vinod (104 off 123) and Sanju Samson (67 off 66) were the impressive performers with the bat for Kerala.

The knock came at a timely time for Rahul as he embarks on a journey to make a comeback in the Indian side. The selectors have indicated that some strong performances at the domestic level will help him in his cause. Rohit Sharma, set to open against South Africa, had a torrid time in his outing. A day before Rahul’s century, Rohit was dismissed for a 2-ball duck for the Board President’s XI against South Africa. He was caught by Heinrich Klassen off the bowling of Vernon Philander.