Rahul showed class in Rajkot, got India out of a difficult situation, scored a strong century

IND vs NZ 2nd ODI: The second match of the three-match ODI series between India and New Zealand is being played at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. India’s start was not as expected. After losing the toss, the Indian team came to bat first and lost its 4 big wickets (Rohit, Shubman, Virat and Shreyas) for 118 runs. At such a time, KL Rahul came to the crease and not only handled the innings but also batted explosively in the end and got rid of sixes from the Kiwi bowlers.

Rahul’s powerful century

After a poor start for India, KL Rahul came out to bat after Iyer was out in the 22nd over. After Virat Kohli’s dismissal, the responsibility of taking the Indian innings forward fell on Rahul’s shoulders. Rahul played an unbeaten inning of 112 runs in 92 balls with 11 fours and 1 six. Rahul first made a partnership of 73 runs with Jadeja and 57 runs with Nitish Reddy.

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A KaLm and gritty century by @klrahul here in Rajkot off just 87 deliveries.

His 8th in ODIs 👏👏#TeamIndia #INDvNZ #2NDODI @IDFCfirstbank pic.twitter.com/DLBwZWBItx

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 14, 2026

New Zealand needs 285 runs to win

On the basis of KL Rahul’s century and captain Shubman Gill’s fifty, India has set a challenging target of 285 runs in 50 overs. Christian Clarke was the most successful bowler for New Zealand, taking 3 wickets for 56 runs. The Indian team, which is leading 1-0 in the series, will now take the field with the intention of sealing the series on the basis of its bowling.

Also read: IND vs NZ 2nd ODI: Rohit and Virat could not score big in Rajkot, bowlers made the comeback of Kiwi team

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

New Zealand (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay (wk), Michael Bracewell (c), Zachary Foulkes, Christian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Jayden Lennox