3 weeks ago
KL Rahul seeks to convert Test centuries into daddy hundreds
KL Rahul is a famous cricket player who opens the batting for India.
He is really good at scoring 100 runs, which in cricket is called a century.
But often, right after he reaches 100, he gets out instead of scoring even more.
Huge scores of 150 or more are called "daddy hundreds."
Rahul wants to score more of those huge hundreds and become one of the best openers ever.
Coaches say players get tired because of lots of travel and short T20 games, so their brains run out of battery.
Rahul also admits he sometimes loses focus after making a hundred.
The team is now playing two big Test matches against Sri Lanka.
Rahul says he tries not to stress about numbers and just enjoys the game.
KL Rahul returns to Sri Lanka for a two-Test tour as one of India's key Test batting pillars.
He averages 38.13 as an opener (42 over the last five years) and has scored 12 Test centuries.
Only two of those centuries crossed 150; six ended between 100 and 110, and three of his most recent hundreds finished at exactly 100.
Wasim Jaffer and mental-conditioning coach Paddy Upton say fatigue from travel and T20 cricket drains batters' focus for long innings.
Rahul says he does not obsess over his average, prioritising tight gameplans and enjoying cricket after his best-ever series of 532 runs at 53.20 in England.
- Who
- KL Rahul, India's Test opener, with analysis from former opener Wasim Jaffer and former India mental-conditioning coach Paddy Upton.
- What
- A feature on Rahul's aim to convert his Test centuries into bigger 'daddy hundreds' and define a series, after repeatedly falling between 100 and 110.
- Where
- Sri Lanka, with past feats cited at Lord's, in England and South Africa, and at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
- When
- In August 2026, ahead of India's two-Test tour of Sri Lanka, following a warm-up match at the NCC Ground in Colombo on August 8, 2026.
- Why
- To lift his average into the range of elite openers; analysts attribute his failure to convert to mental and emotional fatigue from T20 cricket, travel, and lapses in focus.
Key facts
- Batting position
- Test opener for India
- Opening average
- 38.13 career; 42 in the last five years
- Test centuries
- 12
- Century conversion
- Three of last hundreds ended at exactly 100; six of 12 ended between 100 and 110; only two crossed 150
- Average of his centuries
- 128.45
- Best Test series
- 532 runs at 53.20 in England
- Current assignment
- Two-Test tour of Sri Lanka; warm-up match at NCC Ground, Colombo, August 8, 2026
- Domestic high score
- One 200-plus score: a triple hundred in a Ranji Trophy final against Uttar Pradesh
Quotes
Wasim Jaffer
Former Indian opener and batting guru
“Mentally, you have to be very, very strong. You need to be physically fit as well to bat for long hours, to concentrate for a long period of time.”
indianexpress.com








