India vs South Africa 2021: "India’s most versatile batter" - Fans heap praise on KL Rahul after witnessing his scintillating century in the Centurion Test on day 1

On Day 1 of the first Test against South Africa, India opener KL Rahul played a stellar knock and put his team in a strong position. He displayed tremendous skill, grit and temperament during his vigil at the crease. He ended the day unbeaten on 122* (in 248 balls). On the back of KL Rahul's exemplary century, India managed to reach 272/3 at stumps on Day 1.

In the absence of an in-form senior opener like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul took the onus on himself. He played a masterclass innings, showcasing all the traits of a complete Test batter. Fans were ecstatic after witnessing KL Rahul's spectacular knock. They took to Twitter to express the same and showered praise on him.

Mayank Agarwal and Ajinkya Rahane play supporting roles to KL Rahul on Day 1 of the first Test

Earlier, Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first on a challenging track. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal (60) stitched a brilliant 117-run opening partnership to give the visitors a great start. Lungi Ngidi (3/45) then scalped Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara (0) in quick succession to bring South Africa back into the contest.

At this juncture, Virat Kohli (35) joined hands with KL Rahul to consolidate the Indian innings and they looked in good touch. However, the Indian skipper perished while chasing a wide delivery in the 69th over to the disappointment of his fans.

Under-fire batter Ajinkya Rahane (40*) played a positive and well-controlled knock in the third session. He put on a 73* unbeaten partnership with KL Rahul to steer India to a healthy 272/3 on the first day of the South African tour.

Rahane and Rahul will look to continue in the same vein of form tomorrow to help India score more than 400 runs in the first innings. South African bowlers will be hoping to make early inroads during the first hour of the morning as the ball is still relatively new.

About the author

Balakrishna has been a cricket writer at Sportskeeda for almost seven years. A sport that he has been following and playing since he was eight, Balakrishna enjoys the intensity of the sport, skills and strategies applied to get a result out of nowhere, and the thrill that it gives. He also played as a medium pace bowling all-rounder in four inter-college tournaments, winning twice.

Balakrishna’s all-time favorite cricketers are Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma. He admires Sachin’s stellar performances against legendary bowlers, along with his discipline and humility. Meanwhile, he is a big fan of how Rohit turned around his initial struggles to build a successful career.

He avidly supports Team India and 2016 IPL winners SunRisers Hyderabad. The first World Cup that Balakrishna ever saw was the 2003 World Cup, when Australia comprehensively triumphed over India in the final.

While working, he ensures he only uses reliable sources and provides relevant, ethical, and accurate information. When not working, Balakrishna enjoys playing table tennis and reading non-fiction books.

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