Twitter erupts as KL Rahul scores a Bannerman-esque century in the fifth Test

England v India: Specsavers 5th Test - Day Five

What's the story?

KL Rahul who one of the most talented cricketers in the current Indian team hasn't lived up to the expectations in the Test series. Before this innings, Rahul did not make a major contribution with the bat after his hundred in the first T20I.

In the first four matches, the highest score that he could not notch up was 36 at Nottingham. Rahul who hasn't performed so far in the series has put up a great performance on the final day of the tour. At lunch, he scored 108 runs of India's 167 runs, a staggering 64.7% of runs.

Who is Bannerman?

Playing in the first innings of the first ever Test match, Australian opener Charles Bannerman scored 165 runs when Australia managed a total of 245. The contribution made by Bannerman in that innings was a mind-boggling 67.34% and rightly so, he still holds the record for highest percentage of runs scored in an innings.

As a result of the remarkable feat by Bannerman, Australia won the Test match and remain the only team to win their debut Test match. In the 2318 Tests played as of today, only Micheal Slater came close to the record as he made 123 runs out of Australia's 184 (66.84%) against England in 1999. Trailing the two Australians is VVS Laxman, who scored 167 runs out 261 (63.98%) for India against Australia at Sydney in 2000.

In case you didn't know

India has already lost the Test series 3-1 to England and are now facing a near-impossible target of 464. On the other hand, England has everything going their way as Alastair Cook scored 147 in his farewell match. The legendary southpaw was ably supported by England's skipper Joe Root who also scored a century to make things better for England.

Adding to the woes of the Indian team, India lost three wickets with just two runs on the board. After that KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane put together a 118 run partnership before Rahane got out for 37. Debutant Hanuma Vihari soon followed the Indian vice-captain to the dressing room.

Final say

Rishabh Pant joined Rahul in the middle and at the time of writing, the two together have put more than 100 runs for the sixth wicket but have a tough challenge ahead. The most plausible thing that they can do is play out the overs for a draw but with the kind of firepower that these two possess, they might even do the impossible if they remain unbeaten till the end of the day.

Here's how Twitter reacted to Rahul's century