Rahul seals his spot at No 5 with 'quality hundred'

'I mean, KL Rahul is certainly good enough to be a number five.'

KL Rahul's 92-ball unbeaten 112 was laced with eleven boundaries and a six.

IMAGE: KL Rahul's 92-ball unbeaten 112 was laced with eleven boundaries and a six. Photograph: BCCI

India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate hailed wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul for scoring a quick-fire century -- his eighth in ODI cricket -- albeit in a losing cause against New Zealand on Wednesday.

Riding on Daryl Mitchell's ton, New Zealand secured a seven-wicket win in the second ODI of the three-match series in Rajkot.

"I mean, KL Rahul is certainly good enough to be a number five. That's a quality hundred," ten Doeschate said at the post-match press conference.

"I guess one of our strategies in the last 18 months has been to prolong that batting order, and we do like to use the all-rounder either high up the order or at number five, like we have done with Washington Sundar in the past. With KL Rahul finding the form and scoring runs means he can be a regular number five, and you play all-rounders at sixth, seventh or eighth, with hopefully Harshit Rana being that number eight, will give us a lot more depth," ten Doeschate added.

Mitchell scored an unbeaten 131 from 117 balls to lead New Zealand to a seven-wicket win over India in the second One-Day International on Wednesday and level the three-match series at 1-1.

New Zealand won the toss and sent India into bat, restricting the hosts to 284/7 in Rajkot. The visitors chased down that target with 15 deliveries remaining to set up a series decider.

Mitchell, who has been in fine form in ODI cricket and scored 761 runs in 2025 at an average of 54.35, came in with New Zealand in a difficult position at 46-2.

The 34-year-old quickly built a strong partnership with Will Young as the pair combined for 162 runs, with Mitchell being dropped on 80 by Prasidh Krishna before going on to notch his eighth ODI century.