Manchester [UK], July 23 (ANI): Former England skipper Nasser Hussain hailed the seasoned Indian opener KL Rahul following his strong run with the bat in the ongoing five-match series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 against the Three Lions. Hussain compared the right-hand batter’s batting approach in this series to England openers.
In the first innings of the Manchester Test, the 33-year-old player scored 46 runs off 98 balls which came with the help of four boundaries.
“He has wonderful technique. He plays almost like an English opening batter, and it is a real valuable asset for this Indian side to have,” Hussain told Sky Sports.
During the first day of the fourth Test of the series at Old Trafford on Wednesday, Rahul completed 1000 Test runs in England, becoming only the fifth Indian to do so after legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, and Virat Kohli.
With 1575 runs, Tendulkar is in first place, followed by Dravid (1376), Gavaskar (1152), and Kohli (1096). Now, Rahul joins this elite list, marking another solid milestone in his career.
In 12 Tests in England, he has made four centuries and two fifties. His best score in England is 149.
Indian batters have earned praise from former cricketers.
India head coach Ravi Shastri was full of praise for the left-hand batter Yashasvi Jaiswal who has scored 36 runs in the first session of the fourth Test.
“This tour of England will make Jaiswal twice the player he is. He was prepared to guts it out this morning after his failures at Lord’s – he gave respect to the conditions and the new ball. Then he started playing positive shots around half an hour before lunch – the uppercut, the slash over the slips,” Shastri noted.
England skipper Ben Stokes won the fourth consecutive toss and opted to bowl against India in the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester on Wednesday. India, trailing by 1-2, needs to conjure a win to keep the series alive.
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Anshul Kamboj. (ANI)
