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On Friday, June 20, the much-anticipated England versus India five-match Test series kickstarted in Leeds. The series not only kicked-off their respective new Test cycle, but the onset of the first Test also brought a start to the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle. For the unversed, England’s red-ball captain, Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl first.
His decision came seeing a beautiful batting pitch on offer, assisting the pacers for the majority of the days with the spin bowlers likely to make their key presence as the game gets older. To everyone’s surprise, with Rohit Sharma having retired from international Test cricket, KL Rahul opened with Yashasvi Jaiswal as the pair stitched a 91-run stand for the opening wicket.
Fans show praise on KL Rahul’s strokeplay on Day 1 of the first Test in Leeds
After being put to bat first, the opening pair of KL and Jaiswal added 91 runs, making it India’s fourth highest opening partnership in the first innings of first Test of an away tour. Their partnership sits behind Murali Vijay - Shikhar Dhawan’s 283 against Bangladesh (2015), Virender Sehwag - Aakash Chopra’s 160 against Pakistan (2004) and KL Rahul - Mayank Agarwal’s 117 against South Africa (2021).
Apart from this, what was more impressive was seeing the star Indian wicketkeeper-batter showcasing his brilliant strokeplay against the English bowlers, bringing out his cover drive. Seeing KL play cover drive efficiently, fans took no time to flood social media, heaping praise on the Karnataka-born.
Check out how fans reacted to KL Rahul’s strokeplay on Day 1 of first Test:
However, KL Rahul departed after scoring 42 off 78 balls at a strike rate of 53.85. His 78-odd balls stay in the middle saw him hit eight boundaries. After his dismissal, debutant Sai Sudharsan took the crease, but could not make an impact as he fell in quick succession, departing on a four-ball duck. At lunch on day one of the first Test, the Indian scorecard read 92/2 after 25.4 overs.
