KL Rahul equals Gunduppa Viswanath, Rahul Dravid's record with 6th successive Test 50
Colombo: Opener KL Rahul equalled records by two legendary former Team India batsmen Gunduppa Viswanath and Rahul Dravid, as he notched up his 6th consecutive half century, against Sri Lanka, on Thursday.
Playing only his 18th Test match, Rahul, who is currently making a comeback to the national side after a long layoff due to a shoulder injury, followed by a bout of flu, notched up the eighth 50 of his Test career in the first innings of India’s second Test against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club, in Colombo.
With this half century, KL Rahul notched up his sixth successive fifty, thus equalling the likes of Dravid and Viswanath in this feat.
Rahul, who has scored 57, had started his half-century streak against Steve Smith’s Australia at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in his hometown Bengaluru, where he scored a 90 and a 51, in a 75-run victory for India. He followed that up with a first innings 67 in the drawn Ranchi Test (did not bat in the second innings), and another 67 and 51 (not out) in Dharamsala, against the Aussies.
Former India captain Dravid scored six consecutive Test fifties in 1997/98, scoring 92, 93, 85, 52, 56 and 86 against Sri Lanka and Australia.
Meanwhile, Viswanath achieved this feat in 1977/78, notching up scores of 59, 54, 79, 89, 73 and 143 against Australia and Pakistan.
Interestingly, Rahul became the fastest Indian (18 Tests) to achieve this feat; he also became the first India opener to score six consecutive fifties in Test cricket.
Another half century in the second innings would help the Karnataka batsman level-up with Australian cricketer Chris Rogers, who scored seven fifties against India and England in 2014/15.
