India, June 23 -- After gaining a lead of six runs in the first Test of the five-match series against England at Headingley, Leeds, the need of the hour for the Indian batters was to see off the new ball and keep the hosts at bay. KL Rahul did just that. The visitors might have lost Yashasvi Jaiswal (4) cheaply, but the right-hander found support in Sai Sudharsan, and the duo kept the scoreboard moving.

Rahul unleashed some beautiful cover drives and straight drives, and his performance has now been dubbed "very close to perfection." Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar was full of praise for KL Rahul, saying even the most harsh critic would not be able to find a flaw in the cover drives played by the batter in the second innings.

At st...