KL Rahul hit a sublime unbeaten century to lead India to a dominant eight-wicket victory over a chastened England in the first T20I at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Chasing 160 to win, Rahul’s 101 off 54 balls eased the visitors to their target, captain Virat Kohli completing an emphatic chase with a six.
Kuldeep Yadav took 5-24, including three wickets in one over, as England’s middle order collapsed.
Jos Buttler made 69 and David Willey’s late hitting took them to 159-8.
But it proved far too little as India cruised home with 10 balls to spare.
India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, with the second game in Cardiff on Friday.
Heaps of praises for KL Rahul
With the help of 5 sixes and 10 fours, KL Rahul smashed his 2nd T20I century while chasing. He was a great treat to watch and many believe that KL should get his opportunities across the formats.
Both current and former cricketers were thrilled to watch Rahul bat. They took it to the micro-blogging site, Twitter to share their thoughts on this blistering knock.
Here are some of the best tweets:
Special touch from @klrahul11. Making batting look very easy. A combination of great balance and good temperament. #ENGvIND
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 3, 2018
After Kul , KL a treat to watch#ENGvIND
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 3, 2018
What a phenomenal talent KL Rahul is. So pleasing to the eyes. High time he is an automatic pick across formats. All class #ENGvIND
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) July 3, 2018
Pretty good knock that @klrahul11 #ENGvIND
— Isa Guha (@isaguha) July 3, 2018
Take a bow @klrahul11 what an inn champ.. keep going 💪 it’s gonna be tough for England to stop this indian batting line up going forward
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) July 3, 2018
Well bowled @imkuldeep18 5wickets and well played @klrahul11 100* congratulation both of you well done good show
— 𝕸𝖔𝖍𝖆𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖉 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖒𝖎 (@MdShami11) July 3, 2018
All-round performance from the team today..first @imkuldeep18’s wonderful spell and then @klrahul11’s superb century. Amazing game guys. Brilliant start to the long English tour. #EngvInd
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) July 3, 2018
Special ton from very special player @klrahul11 and @imkuldeep18 was too good. Great start by team India for England tour. Look forward to many more victories #ENGvsIND
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) July 4, 2018
@klrahul11 ..good to see india play Rahul..he is a must in all formats ..superb innings
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) July 3, 2018
First T20 🏴 – 159/8 (20 overs)
🇮🇳 – 163/2 (18.2 overs)
A fantastic century from KL Rahul (101*) Team India goes 1-0 up vs England— Saqlain Mushtaq (@Saqlain_Mushtaq) July 4, 2018
Brilliant innings by @klrahul11 !! Congratulations Team India!! @imVkohli
— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops) July 3, 2018
Well done Rahul! What an innings!
And well done Virat for making that possible.#Selflessness— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) July 3, 2018
What a wonderful start to the England series for India. An outstanding spell of wrist spin bowling from @imkuldeep18 , followed by a brilliant hundred from @klrahul11 . Well begun @BCCI #ENGvIND
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) July 3, 2018
Emphatic. Both performers have made a strong case to be included in the XI in all three formats. Both are special talent. Kuldeep & Rahul. #EngvInd
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) July 3, 2018
England needs 17 fielders for KL Rahul! #ENGvIND
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) July 3, 2018
Oh #KLRahul u made that 100 look so easy…. I reiterate this boy is an All format player. Class and Carnage come naturally to him. India make a breeze of this chase… Hello England … We are not Australia :):) #ENGvIND
— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) July 3, 2018
India have to ensure that @klrahul11 is taken care of. He is a special talent and just took this game to another planet today. Privilege to watch him play
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 3, 2018
KL Rahul in T20Is:
Innings 15
Runs 671
100s 2
50s 4
Average 55.91
Strike-rate 155.68#Cricket #ENGvIND— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) July 3, 2018
England might be winning vs Columbia but quite the contrary at Manchester,KL Rahul just scored a 100* in 53 balls to take India nearly over the line!
— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) July 3, 2018
KL Rahul also has to play in the Tests………
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/daniel86cricket/status/1014229021675180033
After this match, KL Rahul has a batting average of 55.91 in Twenty20 Internationals – the highest for any player who has played at least 10 innings in this format.#ENGvIND #INDvENG
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) July 3, 2018
KL Rahul registered his 2nd T20I ton yesterday#INDvEND #ENGvIND #Cricket #CricketTrolls pic.twitter.com/7ymymLw3pT
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) July 4, 2018
KL Rahul last 9 innings:
Half century
Half century
Half century
Missed
Half century
Missed
Half century
Half century
Half century— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) July 3, 2018
