Gautam Gambhir's Reaction To KL Rahul's Sublime Shot Goes Viral | WATCH

The first India-Afghanistan ODI at Dharamsala’s Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium would be remembered by the rare feat of two debutants — Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey — taking three wickets each, Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s brilliant century, and Shubman Gill breaking Virat Kohli’s record to become the fastest Indian to reach 3,000 ODI runs in only 62 innings.

But one equally impressive player was KL Rahul. There was some doubt around the right-hander’s batting position for the day after he was put at number three in the team sheet, but he came at his tried-and-tested spot of number five, with India at 142/3, needing 53 runs in 7.3 overs. With Gill on 70 at the other end, the skipper was supposed to be the aggressor, but Rahul smacked 39

off 19 to finish the game.

Gill remained stranded at 84, 16 runs short of his century on the other end, but he would not have minded it because of the sublime quality in Rahul’s four boundaries and three sixes. Gautam Gambhir had the perfect reaction to sum it up — on the last ball of the 22nd over against Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, which was delivered full and outside off, Rahul leaned forward and lofted a cover drive with the bat faced open.

The way Gambhir looked at his batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak, said it all. Check it in the video below (the first shot is played by Gill, followed by Rahul’s):

Sublime ball-striking 👌💥

🎥 Easy on the eye shots from Captain Shubman Gill and KL Rahul en route to a fine victory 👏

Updates ▶️ https://t.co/lCuohEZYAl #TeamIndia | #INDvAFG | @IDFCFIRSTBank | @ShubmanGill | @klrahul pic.twitter.com/hXHuxGC5yL

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 13, 2026

Rahul has been one of the best batters in the world at the number five position, scoring 969 runs in 22 innings since 2023 at an average of 74.53, with two centuries and five fifties. No one has scored more runs since then at a better average than Rahul.