KL Rahul explains his unique century celebration after breaking 9-year drought at home

KL Rahul has extended his sublime form in the ongoing two-match Test series against the West Indies at home. After scoring more than 500 runs on the England tour and 187 runs against Australia A in the second unofficial Test, KL Rahul kicked off the home season in style.

On Day 2 of the ongoing first Test against the West Indies, Rahul smashed a brilliant century and pulled off a unique type of celebration, where he put two fingers in his mouth and raised his bat. However, it was already anticipated that he would dedicate his second home Test century to his daughter.

KL Rahul opens up about his unique century celebration in Ahmedabad

But the Karnataka batter has now officially confirmed the same at the post-match presentation after the end of Day 2. When he was asked about the unique celebration after reaching the three figures in Ahmedabad, Rahul said, “It was for my daughter.”

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Question: What was that celebration?

KL Rahul said "For my daughter". 🥹❤️ pic.twitter.com/l5RZS252Sg

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 3, 2025

Notably, Rahul and Athiya Shetty have a baby girl who was born in March 2025. The couple named their daughter Evaarah.

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It was Rahul's 11th Test century but only his second at home. He last scored a home century in December 2016 against England at Chennai, where he made 199.

The Indian opener took 3211 days to notch up his second hundred in the traditional format of the game in the home conditions.

KL Rahul opens up on the challenges of scoring in India

Meanwhile, Rahul revealed why this is only his second Test century at home, saying playing in India is different from the overseas conditions, where fast bowlers and extra bounce make scoring more straightforward with “a lot of challenge.”

The right-handed batter further pointed out that boundaries don’t come easily at home with three spinners in the team and the field spread out.

However, over the past few years, Rahul has focused on maintaining his batting tempo, enjoying grinding runs through singles and twos, and this approach is helping him get runs in India.

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Rahul further explained, “Not sure really. But yeah, somehow, I think the only thing that I've worked on in the last year or so has been maintaining my batting tempo. Just enjoying the phases that are not as exciting for me in my own head.

The boundaries don't come that easily. So yeah, that's something that I've worked on, and I needed to make that mental switch to enjoy doing that, enjoy grinding, and get 100s with singles and twos as well.”

KL Rahul equals Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s WTC record

Meanwhile, it was Rahul’s 6th century for India in the ICC World Test Championship. With this tone, he equalled Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant’s record for the second-most centuries for India in the WTC. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are leading the table, each with 9 centuries in the WTC.

Well, India dominated Day 2 of the ongoing first Test in Ahmedabad as well, and the day ended with India’s score at 448/5, leading by 286 runs against the West Indies. Apart from Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Dhruv Jurel also cracked impressive centuries on Day 2 against the West Indies.

With this, the India team achieved a rare feat, as this is only the fourth time in history that three or more batters have scored centuries in the same Test innings in a single year, the previous occasions being in 1979, 1986, and 2007.