KL Rahul notched up his fifth ODI ton against England in the second ODI.
Versatile Indian batsman KL Rahul while talking about his unique century celebration on Friday (March 26) said that it was just to shut out the noise from outside.
KL Rahul’s poor run of form was much talked about during the recently concluded T20I series between India and England and saw him getting dropped from the Indian XI for the last T20I. The swashbuckling batsman scored just 15 runs in four innings.
Coming to the ODI series, Rahul on the back of unbeaten 62 runs in the first ODI, which India won by 66 runs, silenced all the critics and brought up his fifth ODI hundred in the second match of the three-match series.
Kl Rahul came to bat when Team India were tumbling at 37/2 and were in a spot of bother after they lost both Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma in a quick succession of time.
The 28-years-old joined hands with skipper Virat Kohli and the duo together added 121 runs for the third wicket and then later added 113 runs with Rishabh Pant which helped Team India post a total of 336 runs.
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After reaching his hundred, KL Rahul’s celebration was unique which caught attention of almost everyone as he pointed his bat towards the dressing room before covering his ears to indicate that he didn't pay heed to any critical comments for his failures in the T20I series.
While talking about his celebration during an interaction with Star Sports after the end of the Indian innings, Rahul said that celebration was a message to all his critics to stop the unfair criticism. He added that few quality shots eased his nerves and was really happy to build partnerships with Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant.
"It (the celebration) is just to shut out the noise, not to disrespect anyone. There are people out there who try to pull you down, at times you need to neglect them. So that's just a message to shut out that noise.
"I was disappointed after the T20 series, but that's how the game goes. Few quality shots eased my nerves. Really happy I was able to build those partnerships with Virat and Rishabh,” KL Rahul said.
Rahul further said that he and skipper Kohli had eyed on a target of around 300 and were happy to get over that.
“When I and Virat were batting, we needed anything around 300, so happy with this total. It was a hot day and it was important for us to get a partnership. Really happy with what we have achieved after 50 overs. Scoring runs makes you confident, and that's what you want to do," he concluded.
The three-match ODI series between India and England stands at 1-1 with decider to be played on 28th March at Pune.
(PTI inputs)