Ahmedabad, 3 Oct

Indian opener KL Rahul brought an end to a long wait for a Test century on home soil, registering his 11th ton in the longest format during the opening Test against the West Indies at Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday.

He also joined an elite list of batters after bringing up his 10th century as a Test opener, becoming only the fourth Indian to achieve the milestone in the longest format. Rahul surpassed Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma, both of whom have nine Test centuries as openers, during the ongoing first Test against the West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

At the end of session one of day two, KL was at 100* in 192 balls, with 12 fours and a strike rate of over 52. He had to wait 26 innings at home between two hundreds, having last managed a century at home soil against England in December 2016 at Chennai, scoring 199. 

This is the fourth-longest an Indian has had to wait between two centuries at home, with Ravichandran Ashwin's wait at 36 innings being the longest. 

3211 days gap between the first and second Test hundred at home for KL Rahul - it is the longest such gap for an Indian batter between two centuries at home.

During the first Test against the West Indies at Ahmedabad, KL scored a 197-ball 100 with 12 fours. However, he could not convert this knock into a bigger score, being dismissed by Jomel Warrican at the start of the second session, handing an easy catch to Justin Greaves at short extra-cover.

Regardless, this year officially marks KL at his best in Tests, with 649 runs in seven matches and 13 innings at an average of 54.08, with three centuries and two fifties and a best score of 137. His best Test series outing also came this year against England in the UK, ending the five-match series as the third-highest run-getter with 532 runs in 10 innings at an average of 53.20, with two centuries and two fifties.

His previous best year was 2017, scoring 633 runs in nine matches and 14 innings at an average of 48.69, with nine fifties and a best score of 90*.

Earlier, WI was bundled out for 162 after they opted to bat first, with Justin Greaves (32 in 48 balls, with four boundaries) top-scoring. Mohammed Siraj (four wickets) and Jasprit Bumrah (three wickets) dominated the WI batting.

Also, skipper Shubman Gill hit a landmark half-century, becoming the second Indian captain after Sunil Gavaskar (205 against WI at Wankhede in 1978) to hit fifty or more in their debut innings at home as a captain.