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A double century in Test cricket is counted among the biggest achievements of any batsman’s career, but imagine, how great will be the pain of that moment when a batsman remains just one run away from this historic milestone. There have been many such players across the world who got heartbroken after reaching 199 runs. However, this unwanted record in Indian cricket is recorded in the name of only two players. Do you know this name?
Mohammad Azharuddin was the first Indian batsman to be dismissed for 199 runs in Test cricket. He was out on the bowling of Ravi Ratnayake against Sri Lanka in the Kanpur Test in 1986. Coming at number-5, this veteran played a brilliant innings hitting 16 fours and one six, but did not succeed in crossing the double century streak and was trapped LBW. With this inning, India scored 676/7 in the first innings. The match was a draw.
KL Rahul became the second Indian batsman to be out for 199 runs. Despite brilliant batting, excellent patience and complete dominance over the opposition bowlers, Rahul was out for 199 runs against England in 2016. With this, he joined the batsmen who missed a double century by just one run in Test cricket.
This innings of KL Rahul came against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in the year 2016. India scored a huge score of 759/7 runs in the first innings and the biggest reason for this was the marathon batting of KL Rahul and Karun Nair (triple century). Rahul showed patience from the beginning and then hit brilliant strokes when he got the chance. He faced every bowler of England with strength and remained at the crease for a long time.
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Rahul scored 199 runs in 311 balls. In this brilliant innings, he hit 16 fours and 3 sixes. Just when it seemed that he would easily complete the first double century of his Test career, he was out on the ball of Adil Rashid. There were 199 runs in his account on the scoreboard and the entire stadium became witness to this disappointing moment.
In the long history of Test cricket, the incidents of being out for 199 runs have been very less. Only a select few batsmen of the world have reached this figure and been out. From India, till now only KL Rahul’s name is included in this list. Let us tell you that KL Rahul is still searching for his first double century in Test. This is also his best score so far in Test.
Rahul definitely missed a double century in that match, but his innings had put India in a strong position. Team India declared the innings with a huge score and won this match by an innings and 75 runs. Rahul must have regretted the double century, but his innings became one of the most memorable innings in Indian Test history.
KL Rahul’s career has been full of ups and downs, but whenever he played a long innings, he displayed his class and technique brilliantly. This inning of 199 runs is also proof that he has the ability to bat long on the big stage. However, the same question still remains in the minds of cricket fans that if Rahul had scored one more run that day, this innings would have been counted among the most memorable double centuries of Indian cricket.
