Rahul’s ton shows why he has cracked the Test code

Just after reaching his first home ton in 3,211 days, KL Rahul kissed the crest on his helmet, brushed back his mane of hair, raised his bat to the dressing room and put two fingers in his mouth, a dedication to his six-month old daughter.

- Rasesh Mandani

Celebrating landmarks has become a thing in Indian cricket. Not as swashbuckling as Ravindra Jadeja’s sword twirl it may be, but Rahul loves improvising when he feels the time is right. Earlier, he would look to shut out the noise earlier by plugging his ears. But now that runs are flowing, Rahul has graduated beyond angry messaging.

It has been a stop-start career, to be fair. He raised the bar with an early Test hundred in Australia at Sydney during the 2015 series; the knock became both a boon and a burden. Until he settled down in what is essentially the back half of his career, Rahul, 33, had plenty to complain about.