KL Rahul etched his name into the history books on Monday by becoming the first Indian opener to score three Test centuries in England. The milestone came during the first Test of the five-match series at Headingley. Rahul’s century took him past a distinguished group of former Indian openers — Sunil Gavaskar, Vijay Merchant, Rahul Dravid and Ravi Shastri — all of whom had scored two Test hundreds as openers in England. With his century, Rahul now stands alone at the top of that list. The right-hander reached his ninth Test hundred with a double off spinner Shoaib Bashir. Notably, eight of Rahul’s nine Test centuries have come away from home.

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Earlier in the match, Rahul had scored 42 in the first innings. But his second innings effort stood out for its control and elegance. He built a steady partnership with Rishabh Pant, who provided momentum at the other end with attacking shots.

Rahul also drew closer to Sunil Gavaskar’s record of eight centuries in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries as an opener. Monday’s ton was his fifth in these regions. Among overseas openers, West Indies great Gordon Greenidge leads the all-time list with six centuries in England.