KL Rahul Gets Stamp of Approval From Opposition Camp; England Pacer Hails His Century for India A

England pacer Chris Woakes credited KL Rahul for playing a great knock in testing conditions as he felt that the players replacing recently-retired Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will not be easy opponents for the home team.

Rahul had recently finished his Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 as the top run-scorer for Delhi Capitals with 529 runs from 13 matches and started his England tour with India A in excellent fashion.

KL Rahul century gets Chris Woakes’ praise

On a day when the visiting batters struggled in Northampton, Rahul scored runs with ease and dealt with the seam movement in a disciplined way.

“KL played really well, good hundred. The wicket was doing something all day. There were periods when it was doing much. But it’s always good to play against a strong opposition,” Woakes said of Rahul’s 117 off 168.

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Woakes also spoke about the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and felt that their replacements will also be tough opponents.

“Had few good battles against Rohit and Virat over the years. For the game itself, there won’t be there, but Indian cricket has a lot of depth and I’m pretty sure they are of high standard. They will be tough, regardless of the conditions,” the 2019 ODI World Cup winner said.

Woakes takes three wickets on return

Woakes, who is making his international return after six months after recovering from an ankle injury, claimed the three top-order wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Karun Nair.

“Good day, 17 overs in the bank. Felt pretty good. Three wickets and its a bit strange start to the season for me. But I had played a couple of weeks for Warwickshire, so nice to play today,” the all-rounder said.

The veteran felt that England still have to play their best if they have to beat India as home advantage doesn’t always guarantee success in Test cricket.

“In international cricket, you have to adapt wherever you travel. They say playing at home is an advantage but we have to perform to the best of our ability,” he said.

Batting first, India A posted a total of 348 all out with Rahul top scoring with help of Dhruv Jurel (52) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (34).

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