KL Rahul becomes first Indian opener to score ton on debut in West Indies

KL Rahul becomes first Indian opener to score ton on debut in West Indies
by Deepu Narayanan •
Last updated on Monday, 01 August, 2016, 05:01 AM

KL Rahul registered his third Test hundred © AFP

India extended their advantage at the close of play on day two of the second Test against West Indies at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. The visitors had a sedate start to the day, scoring only 59 runs off 26 overs in the first session, while the second session yielded 74 runs in 28 overs for a solitary wicket. West Indies had some respite when they grabbed three wickets, including that of Virat Kohli, in the final session of the day. However, KL Rahul's excellent knock of 158 - his third Test century, all overseas - ensured that India were in a commanding position at the end of the day.

Statistical highlights of day two of the second Test:

Indian openers scoring a century in their debut innings in West Indies before Rahul. The previous highest was 96 scored by Ajay Jadeja in St John's in 1997.

KL Rahul became the fifth Indian player to score a hundred in his maiden innings in West Indies. His knock of 158 is the highest among the five.

Hundreds for Indian players in their maiden innings in West Indies:

Player Score         Venue     Start Date         Result
KL Rahul         158 Kingston     30-Jul-16         In progress
Polly Umrigar 130 Port of Spain  21-Jan-53         Draw
Brijesh Patel 115* Port of Spain  24-Mar-76         Draw
R Ashwin         113 North Sound    21-Jul-16         Won
S Manjrekar 108 Bridgetown     7-Apr-89         Lost

Rahul became the second Indian batsman after Mohammad Azharuddin to convert all his first three fifties to hundreds. Rahul's Test career so far - 3, 1, 110, 16, 7, 5, 108, 2, 2, 2 and 158.

Indian players scoring their first three (or more) hundreds of their career away f
158 by Rahul is the second-highest for India at Sabina Park after 212 by Dilip Sardesai in 1971. Rahul's knock is the seventh Test century for India at Sabina Park.

121-run stand between Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara is India's first 100-plus stand for the second wicket in West Indies since Wasim Jaffer and Rahul Dravid's 155-run partnership in St. Johns's in 2002

Today's was the first instance of India overtaking West Indies' first innings total while losing less than two wickets.

28.93 Strike rate of Pujara (46 off 159) is the fourth lowest for an Indian batsman against West Indies (min. 150 balls). The lowest is 23.39 by Sanjay Bangar (40 off 171) in Chennai in 2002.

38.24 Difference in Pujara's average in the subcontinent and outside - the biggest for an Indian player (min. 25 innings both home and away). He has scored six hundreds and four fifties in 29 innings in Asia, while outside Asia he has a solitary hundred and three fifties in the same number of innings.

Highest difference in average for Indian batsmen:

Player   Inns Home Avg   100s/50s Inns Away Avg 100s/50s DIFF
CA Pujara   29           67.75       6/4 29   29.51     1/3 38.24
NS Sidhu   46   52.80     7/13      32        26.64       2/2   26.16
V Sehwag   114         57.39 18/24  64     35.66       5/7 21.73
VL Manjrekar  63         46.12 5/13         29     25.60       2/2 20.52
M Azharuddin 87         52.97 16/15         60     33.75       6/6 19.22
* Qualification: Minimum 25 innings both home and away

Instances of India's first three wickets putting together stands of fifty or more in West Indies. The previous instances happened in Port of Spain in 1976 and 1983 and in St. John's in 2006.

162-run lead is the highest for India in West Indies during the course (or at the end) of the first innings when West Indies batted first. The previous highest was 161 in Port of Spain in 1976, when India replied with 402 for 5 decl. after dismissing West Indies for 241 in the first innings.

They will this time.