Indian opener KL Rahul has revealed that working with F1 coaches has helped him improve his reaction time on the ongoing England tour. Rahul said he has spent some time on mental drills with these coaches, which has helped him in his batting.

The flamboyant batter scored an impressive knock of 100 runs off 177 balls against England in the first innings of the third Test match at Lord’s on Saturday. The Indian opener added 141 runs with Rishabh Pant, who scored 74 runs, for the fourth wicket.

Rahul became the first Indian opener to score two centuries at Lord’s. The experienced right-hander has scored four centuries while playing in English conditions since 2018, which is the highest for any opener. 

Rahul said in a post-day press conference, “I spent some time with an expert for some mental drills to improve my reaction times. Seen this in Formula One. Worked with coaches who work with F1 guys and adventure sport. That’s the only thing which has been different. I always enjoy batting long hours. I have strived for consistency all my career. Happy that performances are coming through now.”

“Batting at top of the order feels good. Happy that I am using the opportunity.”

This was Rahul’s second century of the ongoing tour and he has scored 336 runs in five innings at an average of 67.20.

Meanwhile, when Rahul was on 98, Pant took a risky single before lunch to put his partner back on strike but the latter could not make his ground as Ben Stokes hit the bullseye. 

“He just wanted me to rotate strike and see if he could put me back on strike. But, yeah, it shouldn’t have happened: a run out at that stage really changed the momentum. It was disappointing for both of us. Obviously, nobody wants to throw their wicket like that,” said Rahul.

England ended the day’s play 2-0 after India leveled England’s score of 387.