Rohit Sharma hails KL Rahul: Century at Lord's his 'best' till date

Rohit Sharma heaped praise on his opening partner KL Rahul, who scored a century on Day 1 of the second Test between India and England at Lord's on Thursday.

Rahul became 10th Indian cricketer and third opener from the country to register a hundred at the Home of Cricket as he remained unbeaten on 127 off 248 at stumps in London. He was more than happy to play second fiddle to Rohit during their opening stand of 126 that formed the foundation of India's innings after England captain Joe Root won the toss and asked the visitors to bat.

In the opening partnership, while Rohit scored 83 off 145, which was his highest Test score away from home, Rahul contributed 33 runs off 118 balls. He kept hiss defense solid and left the balls outside off-stump easily. After Rohit missed out on a well deserved century, Rahul went on to dominate his stand with skipper Virat Kohli for the third wicket.

"This is probably the best that I have seen KL Rahul bat. I thought he was very much in control from Ball 1. Till we finished the day today, he looked very much in control. At no point, it looked like he was confused or thinking too much, he was very clear about his plans. When you are clear with your plans, when you trust your plans, it definitely works. I thought today was his day and I thought he really made it count," said Rohit after India ended Day 1 at 276 for 3.

The Mumbai batsman struck 11 fours and a six in his near flawless knock of 83 before England pacer James Anderson dismissed him with an inswinger.

"I wouldn't say the best (knock of mine) because as long as you're playing, there will be a lot of opportunities. But certainly, challenging one, the most challenging that I have played. I felt very good, was very happy with the way I started off. Unfortunate dismissal but probably I couldn't have done anything to that," added Rohit.

The underway Test series in England is the first time Rohit and Rahul have opened the innings for Team India. Despite this, they have already put up two crucial stands for the first wicket – 97 at Trent Bridge and 126 at Lord's.

"Honestly, there was no discussion because KL was not supposed to play, Mayank was supposed to play. But unfortunately, he had a concussion and then KL stepped in. Only when we went out to bat, we started discussing what we need to do.

Yes, this is the first time I am batting with him in Tests but we have batted with each other a number of times, we know each other's game, we understand each other's game. It's important to keep talking in the middle. You can be very lonely if you don't have someone to communicate with. Both KL and I have a similar mindset and we want to take the game forward," explained Rohit.

Following Rohit's dismissal, Rahul built a brief partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara before forming a vital stand with his skipper. It was Rahul who dominated the 117-run stand between him and Kohli. The Indian captain scored 42 off 103 balls before getting caught at first slip by Root off Ollie Robinson.