Bharath Ramaraj in Dubai
On a Sunday night, the entire Dubai Stadium was packed to the brim, with the majority of them belonging to one country. The big occasion was India taking on New Zealand in a Champions Trophy final. So much so that even on the steps, fans had occupied most of the space. In the 41st over, when KL Rahul smashed a six, there was a cacophony of sounds reverberating across the stadium.
As soon as Rahul essayed that stroke, one could observe some fans indulging in bhangra, and a few others dancing to their own beats. One could also hear enough analysis of what Rahul and Axar Patel, the two batters in the middle, should do in the prevailing situation.
In the very next over, there was another strange sound that echoed right through the stadium – Aaaaaaaah, oooooh. It was the result of Axar being dismissed. At that juncture, Rahul must have been battling his inner demons. On one hand, he had to soak in the pressure of millions of fans – in the stadium and those back home following it via various means of communication – hoping and praying for India to cross the finish line.
A few of the past demons might have also come back to haunt him. One of those was from the 2023 World Cup final where Rahul was criticised for playing slowly in the middle overs. With India losing that final, Rahul carried a lot of the blame for the defeat. Even one year later, on the day of that aforesaid game, social media platforms were flooded with abuse and criticism directed towards Rahul.
Returning to present times, Rahul showcased a calm exterior as he picked up singles and twos, alongside the occasional boundary off Will O’Rourke. He also found able batting partners in Hardik Pandya and to a lesser extent Ravindra Jadeja as India overhauled the target. The memory of him being down on his haunches after the 2023 final was replaced by Rahul and Jadeja holding their hands aloft as they celebrated the memorable moment. Somewhere amid the festive atmosphere at the Dubai stadium, Rahul had buried the ghosts of the 2023 World Cup loss.
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Beneath the calm exterior, though, Rahul himself had a few butterflies in his stomach as India inched closer towards winning their second ICC tournament in a row. He said this to the host broadcaster after the game. “I don’t think I can say this on camera but I was s******* myself at the end, but we still had a couple of batters to come, I was confident we could get over the line. In moments like this and big games it’s more about holding your composure which we all know about but it’s not easy, but happy to win this and get over the line this time.”
Incidentally, the wicketkeeper-batter had also essayed timely hands versus Australia in the semifinal and Bangladesh in the group stage. Yes, the same player who has faced plenty of scrutiny in recent times. Perhaps, Rahul gets very intense and ends up thinking too much about his game. Whatever the reason, Rahul has underperformed in the T20 format and to a degree in Test cricket.
However, Rahul’s versatility has helped India on numerous occasions in the 50-over arena. In the last five years, no middle-order batter has had a higher strike rate and scored more runs than Rahul in ODI cricket. At the same time, he has batted in the top order 26 of his 85 ODIs. In the 2019 World Cup itself, he was pushed up and down the batting order. And then you add the fact that Rahul has taken over ‘keeping duties too. Basically, Rahul has been wearing many hats.
Unfortunately for Rahul, that one innings in the 2023 World Cup final clash is still held against him. Here, the management, including Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma, has to be credited for backing Rahul to the hilt. Rahul repaid all the support with interest, something that billions of fans and the think-tank would be grateful for.
From Rahul’s perspective, he has reaped the rewards for all the hard work in training sessions, along with some mental conditioning off the field. In fact, just a couple of days before the final, Rahul hit the nets around 40-45 minutes ahead of the scheduled time. Maybe—just maybe—on that humid evening, someone up there blessed him.
Also Read: Rohit Sharma rediscovers his mojo when India needed it most