KL Rahul, already much watched and discussed in this most importantly series of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for India against Australia, would wallow in the adoration of having scored such typical runs in an overwhelmingly trying series for Indian batters. The match will be held on December 26 and marked as the Boxing Day Test. Currently, the series is 1-1. From when Rohit Sharma preferred to play in the middle order due to the birth of his second child, KL Rahul was promoted to the opening slot for this series. To date, he appears very well composed and confident against the new, moving ball.
He is the highest-run scorer for India in the series so far and the second overall, with 235 runs in six innings, at an average of 47.00, including two half-centuries and a best score of 84.
Rahul will have the opportunity to create another rare record during this Test: a hat trick of runs in Boxing Day Tests. He was able to make centuries in his last two Boxing Day Tests-both against South Africa in 2021 and 2023. In the victorious outing at Centurion in 2021, he scored 123 (alongside a 23), and, in a losing effort at the same venue last year, he scored 101 (along with a 4).
KL has played just one of the many Box Day Tests in Australia, which also happened to be his very first Test in 2014. The scores that time were three and one.
There is an inconsistency in favor of Rahul in his Boxing Day Test performance, but this clearly proves that he has the instinct to perform in front of big audiences in cricket’s marquee events. It has always proven his ability to score low and high doubles in consecutive fixtures.
Of all the eight Tests that Rahul has played this year, his performance has been such that he has put on an average of 39.08 runs per innings making a total of 469 runs at four half-centuries and a best score of 86 in 14 innings. In the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle, he has summed up 574 runs with an average of 41.00 in nines matches in return for one century, four fifties, and a top score of 101.
Can KL Rahul come up with a hat-trick of Boxing Day Test centuries? Only time will tell about it.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.