'O Rahul KL aana' - Fans react as India openers remain unbeaten on Day 1 of 2nd Test against Australia

India locked horns with Australia in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The Day 1 of the game was balanced as Australia posted a competitive total of 263 runs in the first innings. However, the Indian openers survived the last hour of the day and scored 21 runs without any loss. India skipper Rohit Sharma and vice-captain KL Rahul scored 13 and 4 runs respectively.

Earlier in the match, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first on a spin-friendly wicket. With the help of half-centuries of Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb Australia posted a competitive total of 263 runs. Khawaja in his well-made innings scored 81 runs off 125 balls while Handscomb scored unbeaten 72 runs off 142 balls and added 59 runs for the fifth wicket. Although India pacer Mohammed Shami shined with the ball as he clinched four wickets while the Spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets each.

In response, India was pushed to survive the last hour of the day and Indian openers didn’t team let down. India opener Rohit Sharma along with KL Rahul scored unbeaten 21 runs in nine overs and they trail the visitors by 242 runs. However, the pitch is now playing more tricks as spinners are getting uneven bounce and turn. The Indian opening pair will be looking to last long tomorrow so they can blunt the new ball.

KL Rahul’s stunning catch shocks Usman Khawaja

Usman Khawaja's magnificent half-century proved his brilliance against spinners as he hammered all Indian spinners during his innings. He used reverse sweeps and sweeps to counter the spinners before getting dismissed due to a stunning catch by KL Rahul. In the 46th over of the Australian innings, Khawaja smashed a reverse sweep on Jadeja’s bowl and failed to keep it low. India vice-captain KL Rahul didn’t make any mistakes and took a one-handed catch while diving to his right.

Earlier in the match, India made a change in playing eleven as match-fit Shreyas Iyer came in for Suryakumar Yadav. On the other hand, Australia made two changes as they including Travis Head and Matthew Kuhnemann. Notably, Kuhnemann has been brilliant in the recently concluded Big Bash League season 12.

Although fans react to India's performance on the first day of the game, a fan making fun of KL Rahul's form wrote on Twitter, "o Rahul KL aana."

Here are some Tweets:

Kl Rahul deserves a guard of honour 👏😄

— Bhanu (@PDheerawat) February 17, 2023

Pitch looks dangerous in Day 1

— Ayush Singh (@AyushSi82590648) February 17, 2023

Bowl is keeping low. Big task ahead for Indian batters to put India in strong position. #INDvAUS

— Mrinango C.Borty (VK fan) (@ViratKo66279185) February 17, 2023

Surprised to see KL to last this long...

— Lunatic Head (@LunaticHead1) February 17, 2023

Rahul century tomorrow pin this

— rolex🔥💯😎 (@kadavulbhakthan) February 17, 2023

1st day p itni low rh rhi h ball💀💀

— Sagar Nandal (@SagarNandal14) February 17, 2023

man this pitch looks dangerous

— Kedar✨️ (@krs1646) February 17, 2023

O rahul KL aana..

— Puncause (@PunCause) February 17, 2023

That's what we expect from the night watchman

— Deepak Kumar (@Deepakjarvis) February 17, 2023