He is only the fifth Indian batter to score 1,000-plus runs in England.
After more than a month of some exciting red-ball clashes, the long five-match Test series between England and India is now on the brink of its climax. Amidst this, the former assistant coach of the Indian cricket team, Abhishek Nayar, has recently opened up about the pre-series preparations of the star batter KL Rahul.
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The former coach revealed that the batter swiftly shifted his focus to the following Test series just after the completion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. He also acknowledged Rahul’s efforts to begin the preparation ahead of most of the Indian batters in the ongoing series.
“He has worked very, very hard. There are very few people who know this that after the birth of his child, he was in the IPL, he came back immediately. He started preparing for the Test series while a lot of people wouldn’t have done that,” Nayar said to Sportstar.
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Previously, the Delhi Capitals batter also had two brilliant outings while touring England in 2018 and 2021. He put up a combined 614 runs in nine matches, including two tons, in the previous two series.
“He knew the importance of this series; he understood it. And every minute post the last game that he played in the IPL, was about how he can do well in this Test series. So it’s great to see him do well there and get the recognition,” added Nayar.
With this series, Rahul became only the fifth Indian batter to score 1,000-plus runs on English soil after some of the greats of the game, including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, and Virat Kohli.
The 33-year-old notched up a total of 532 runs in five fixtures of this series at an average of 53.20, including two hundreds and as many fifty-plus scores. With his best performance in a single Test series, Rahul also became the second-highest run-getter for India across these five fixtures, after India’s new skipper Shubman Gill.
Rahul narrowly missed out on surpassing the legendary Gavaskar’s milestone to score the most runs by an Indian opener in a Test series against England. The former Indian player notched up 542 runs in 1979. Rahul missed the record by a mere margin of 10 runs after falling for a cheap seven runs in the second innings at The Oval.
Day 4 of the final ENG vs IND fixture is underway with the hosts needing 210 runs more to win the match with six wickets in hand. Joe Root and Harry Brook will resume the innings at 23 and 38, respectively, after Lunch.
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