KL Rahul continued his run-scoring spree against Mumbai Indians with the second century of the Indian Premier League 2022, at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. While the rest of the team struggled to get going, Rahul held the fort and slammed 103 off 62 deliveries, with the help of twelve fours and four sixes.
Despite Rahul’s century, Lucknow could only manage 168 in the first innings, and needed a disciplined performance from the bowlers to win this contest.
Just over a week ago, Rahul scored his first hundred of the season against the same franchise. Lucknow won that game by 16 runs. Rahul’s second century also knocked Mumbai Indians out of the playoffs race.
With 368 runs in eight games, Rahul is only behind Jos Buttler in the run-scoring charts. En route to his unbeaten 103, the LSG Captain created many records.
He became the only player in the history of the tournament to score three hundreds against the same franchise. Other than him, it’s only Virat Kohli who has scored more than one century against the same opponent. He achieved this feat in 2016 by reaching the triple-digit figure twice in a season against Gujarat Titans.
– Virat Kohli in 2016
– KL Rahul in 2022The only two players to score two centuries against the same team in a season 👏 pic.twitter.com/wbZrq8lKbh
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) April 24, 2022
Moreover, Rahul also joined the list of players to score multiple centuries in a season. Jos Buttler, who has now three centuries in IPL 2022, is another recent inductee, alongside Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Hashim Amla, Chris Gayle, and Shane Watson.
From the list, it’s only Kohli and Gayle who have managed more centuries than Rahul in the Indian Premier League. The Karnataka batter also levelled with Rohit Sharma for having scored the most number of centuries in T20. Both have scored six centuries each, followed by Virat Kohli (5) and Suresh Raina (4).
Most hundreds by Indian players in T20 format:
KL Rahul – 6 (167 innings)
Rohit Sharma – 6 (365 innings)
Virat Kohli – 5 (317 innings)
Suresh Raina – 4 (319 innings)— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 25, 2022
Ravi Shastri has lauded Rahul for his remarkable consistency. “He’s got a solid all-round game, the technique is good he’s got all the shots, great temperament, and good presence of mind. With the responsibility of leading a new franchise is getting the best out of him,” stated the former coach.
