While many questioned Virat Kohli’s decision to give the dual role of batting and wicket-keeping to KL Rahul, the cricketer soon proved everyone wrong.

Immediately, there were comparisons drawn with former captain Sourav Ganguly’s gamble with Rahul Dravid. 

Till Tuesday, the KL Rahul and Rahul Dravid comparisons were only due to the duality in the role, however now after Rahul’s hundred in the 3rd India vs New Zealand ODI, the comparisons have got statistical.

KL Rahul became the second Indian wicket-keeper to hit a century outside Asia after Dravid had done the same in the 1999 World Cup against Sri Lanka at Taunton, England.

Dravid had scored 135 in that match against Sri Lanka and also kept wickets. As for MS Dhoni, he does not have a hundred outside Asia in ODIs, Hindustan Times reported.

This was also the first ODI hundred by an Indian player batting at No. 5 or below since MS Dhoni’s 134 against England at Cuttack in Jan 2017.

Not just this, Rahul also surpassed skipper Virat Kohli in an elite list led by Shikhar Dhawan. Rahul has gone past the three-figure mark four times in just 31 innings while Kohli had taken 36 innings to do so and takes the third spot.