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KL Rahul's "Quality Hundred" Praised Despite India's ODI Loss to New Zealand

India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate praised KL Rahul's unbeaten century as a "quality hundred" following India's seven-wicket loss to New Zealand in the second ODI. Rahul's 112 helped India post 284, but New Zealand chased it down comfortably thanks to a match-winning 131 not out from Daryl Mitchell and 87 from Will Young. The victory levels the three-match ODI series at 1-1. Ten Doeschate also discussed the team's strategy of using all-rounders lower down the order to extend the batting lineup.

Key Points: KL Rahul Century Hailed by Coach After NZ Levels ODI Series

  • Rahul scored 8th ODI ton
  • NZ chased 285 to win by 7 wickets
  • Daryl Mitchell hit 131*
  • Series leveled at 1-1
  • Coach discussed batting order strategy
2 min read

"That's a quality hundred": Ryan ten Doeschate on KL Rahul's century in second ODI against NZ

India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate praises KL Rahul's "quality hundred" in the 2nd ODI vs NZ, which the visitors won to level the series 1-1.

"KL Rahul is certainly good enough to be a number five, that's a quality hundred. - Ryan ten Doeschate"

Rajkot, January 15

After New Zealand secured a seven-wicket win in the second ODI of the three-match series, India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate hailed wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul, who notched up his eighth ODI century.

During the post-match press-conference, ten Doeschate hailed Rahul's ton as "a quality hundred." The assistant coach also spoke on the strategies for playing all-rounders at the sixth, seventh, and eighth positions, with Rahul taking the number five slot in the batting order.

"I mean, KL Rahul is certainly good enough to be a number five, that's a quality hundred. I guess one of our strategies in the last 18 months has been to prolong that batting order, and we do like to use the all-rounder either high up the order or at number five, like we have done with Washington Sundar in the past. With KL Rahul finding the form and scoring runs means he can be a regular number five, and you play all-rounders at sixth, seventh or eighth, with hopefully Harshit Rana being that number eight, will give us a lot more depth," ten Doeschate said.

Coming to the match, India posted a competitive 284/7 on the board in 50 overs after being asked to bat first. Captain Shubman Gill scored 56 runs off 53 deliveries, including nine fours and one six. Rohit Sharma made 24 off 38 balls, with the help of four boundaries.

Virat Kohli scored 23 runs off 29 deliveries, including two fours. Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul slammed his eighth ODI century. Rahul remained unbeaten at 112 runs off 92 balls, along with 11 fours and one six.

With the ball, Kyle Jamieson (1/70), Zakary Foulkes (1/67), Kristian Clarke (3/56), Jayden Lennox (1/42) and captain Michael Bracewell (1/34) were among the wicket takers for New Zealand.

While chasing a target of 285 runs, Will Young played a fantastic knock of 87 runs off 98 deliveries, including seven fours. Young stitched a brilliant 162-run partnership with Daryl Mitchell, who played a match-winning, unbeaten knock of 131 runs off 117 balls, with the help of 11 fours and two sixes as New Zealand chased down their highest successful ODI run chase (285) in India.

The visitors won by seven wickets, levelling the three-match ODI series at 1-1. For India, Harshit Rana (1/52), Prasidh Krishna (1/49) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/82) were among the wicket-takers.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

S
Sarah B
As a neutral fan, that was a fantastic match! Mitchell's innings was pure class. But full credit to KL Rahul - under pressure, he anchored the innings beautifully. A proper batsman's hundred.
V
Vikram M
Our bowling looked toothless today, especially Kuldeep going for 82 runs. 284 was defendable but the bowlers had no answers to Mitchell and Young. Need to bounce back strong in the decider. Bowling attack needs more bite.
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Priya S
So happy for KL! He's been through a lot with injuries and criticism. This knock shows his mental strength. Hope he continues this form into the World Cup year. 🙌
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Rohit P
Top order failed again. Gill got a start but couldn't convert, Virat and Rohit out cheaply. Too much pressure on the middle order. Rahul bailed us out, but we need the big guns to fire consistently.
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Michael C
Ten Doeschate makes a good point about batting depth. Having an all-rounder at 8 like Harshit Rana could be a game-changer in tight matches. Exciting times for Indian cricket's strategy.

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