NEW DELHI: Being KL Rahul is difficult -- a top Indian cricketer with his ability. Test debut nine years ago. ODI and T20I debut seven years ago. And yet somehow, every time he fails to deliver, Rahul has been a talking point for all the wrong reasons. Despite his exceptional talent and skill, every failure or modest outing is laid bare under the dissection table. At times even questions would be raised if he deserved the backing he gets from the team management.
With the amount of T20s he has played in the last three years, every on-field failure of Rahul often results in adverse reactions by the fans. The intended frustration usually stem from the fact that he fails to live up to his ability to play bowlers with consummate ease, sometimes leading to trolls and abuses on social media.
Now, Rahul is not in-your-face I-own-the-world Virat Kohli. His presence might not intimidate opponents. He might, at times, try to show external aggression but that doesn’t come naturally to him. In fact, his trademark celebration is closing his ears, gesturing that he is shutting out the noise from outside. The best version of Rahul, the cricketer, is when he quietly dismantles bowling attacks, makes even the best look like net bowlers, often creating a sense of awe for those who watch him bat.
And that is why, the team management has backed him for almost a decade through the vicissitudes of his career. They have thrown him in every situation possible, every position available to make him work. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he got a similar kind of backing that Rohit Sharma had from the team management for the first half of his career. Need a No. 4, KL Rahul. Opener injured, someone needs to step in, Rahul. Need someone to keep wickets, Rahul. Need someone back again in middle-order, Rahul.
The one role where he got a longer rope was at No. 5 in ODIs. The numbers — 904 runs in 21 innings at 56.5, striking at 96.58 — tell the story. His record in the middle-order, despite stop-gap and long injury lay-offs, are as elitist. Call it luck or destiny, in the Asia Cup, when his moment came against Pakistan, Rahul showed what everyone always knew — he was in a zone.
On Sunday, once again, he was in a similar position. This time, the stakes were higher. Chasing 200 on a tricky pitch, India were 2/3 against Australia in their opening game of the home ODI World Cup at Chennai. The last time they played an ODI WC game, they were 5/3 against New Zealand at Old Trafford, Manchester, and Rahul was one of the three who’d gotten out. One more wicket here and it could have been a different story.
But Rahul, on the second delivery he faced, showed the kind of touch he was in. A full delivery outside off-stump from Josh Hazlewood and Rahul leant forward, met the ball with his bat, not hit or drive, just met. The end result, a boundary as the ball raced to ropes. A few overs later, he did the same to Pat Cummins, this time opening the face of the bat, guiding the ball to square boundary.
Kohli, who had survived a drop catch, was slowly building on his innings. The battle, however, wasn’t won yet. The biggest threat of the night on Chepauk was Adam Zampa. When he bowled in the 18th over, Kohli promptly took a single. The second ball was wide outside off-stump and Rahul nudged it towards point. Zampa came closer, attacking the off-stump. It was a delivery that would normally be hit down the ground or defended. Rahul waited till the last moment and cut the ball between point and short-third for a four.
Two balls latter, he did it again, this time cutting a googly for four. Zampa dropped his shoulders, missed the length and bowled a full toss which Rahul gracefully drove to the boundary. Twelve runs in four balls. Rahul had dismantled Zampa’s confidence and the leg-spinner never really recovered.
There were quite a few shots from thereon, including the one that he wanted to hit for four but went for a six and took India across the line. But it was that over against Zampa that changed it all.
Bowling coach Paras Mhambrey admitted as much. “We always knew what Rahul brings to the team, especially in the middle order. We need someone, and he is that kind of a player who plays spin well, also the fast bowlers. He gives you the stability and confidence. The way he has played in the past, we definitely trusted him, and it's good to have him back,” Mhambrey told reporters after the match.
India’s achilles heel in the last World Cup after Shikhar Dhawan got injured was the inexperience and shuffling in the middle-order. Four years after starting the WC as a middle-order batter, Rahul finds himself in a similar position. Except this time, he knows he isn’t going anywhere. That he is India’s pillar in the middle for the World Cup.
