T20I century against England means the world to me, says KL Rahul

KL Rahul scored an unbeaten 101 which led India to an eight-wicket victory over the hosts England and mark a 1-0 lead in the 3-match T20I series at Old Trafford in Manchester on Tuesday.

With the century Rahul became the second Indian to score two T20I hundreds.

He called his match-winning century against England ‘very special’ and he said that he was feeling relieved to cross the three-figure mark finally as he was failing to convert his fifties into hundreds in the recent past. Rahul’s last three-figure score in international cricket had come in 2016 in a Test against England in Chennai.

After India won the game by an excellent 8-wicket margin to take the series lead, Rahul opened up about his battle with injuries to teammate and guest interviewer Dinesh Karthik, saying the last one and half years had been very challenging for him.

“This is really very satisfying time for me. I have a few international hundreds but this means the world to me. It is very special to me because the last international ton I scored was about two years ago,” said Rahul

“I have been getting fifties in the IPL and in the Test match as well, have been in an out of the ODI team. The past one and a half years have been a rough one for me. I have never chased anything with so much passion so this means the world to me,” he added.

Rahul also credited the Indian Premier League (IPL). He said that the league helped him build extra confidence in his game.

The batsman finished as the third-highest scorer in the eleventh edition of IPL.

“The IPL success has provided me immense confidence. Hopefully, I’ll continue and carry this momentum forward,” he said.

“Rahul has come a long way since the IPL. We want more guys like him to step up. ” Kohli said

“KL has got a great technique, temperament and today he was a little bit emotional as well because his previous century against England came in Chennai and he was longing for another century. It was a great ton and a great sign for Indian cricket,” he added.