KL Rahul completes 4000 Test runs, becoming the 18th Indian to do so
It took him 115 innings and 3977 days
He reached the 4K mark with a four off Marco Jansen
Indian opening batter KL Rahul has become the latest to complete 4000 runs in Test cricket. He achieved this feat during day 2 of the 1st Test match between India and South Africa at the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata.
KL Rahul reached the 4000-run mark with a four off Marco Jansen in the first over of the day. The right-hander started the proceedings along with Washington Sundar, who was sent in at number 3 on day 1 after Yashasvi Jaiswal's departure for 12 off 27.
The 33-year-old, whose career has been all about transitioning to different batting positions, has become the 18th Indian to score 4000 Test match runs. It took him 115 innings to do so, making him one of the slowest to do so.
It took him 3977 days since his debut in 2014 to score 4K runs with Mohinder Amarnath, taking over 6000 days to get to the milestone.
He has become the 18th Indian to complete 4K runs, joining the likes of Virender Sehwag (79 inn), Sunil Gavaskar (81 inn), Rahul Dravid (84 inn), Sachin Tendulkar (86 inn) and Cheteshwar Pujara among others.
However, he is nowhere near them in terms of innings taken. As a matter of fact, Rahul is the 3rd slowest Indian to reach the 4000-run milestone. Former India captains Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni took 138 and 116 innings respectively.
But what's more impressive is KL Rahul's average in Test cricket, which is at 52.5 since January 2024 and he is also the highest red-ball scorer in this playing XI, overtaking Ravindra Jadeja's tally of 3990 runs.
Rahul will be hoping to convert his positive start into something big and help India gain a substantial lead at the end of day 2. India had bowled first after losing the toss and inflicted a 55-over all-out for 159 runs in the 1st innings.
