In the 50 overs world cup in 2023, KL Rahul batted at no 5. The team management led by captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid gave him the necessary backing. And boy, Rahul turned out to be a gamechanger.
India took on Australia in their first game of the tournament. Chasing a meagre 200 for victory, India were reeling at 3-2 after the first couple of overs. With Rohit, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer back in the hut, India turned to its ever reliable chase master Virat Kohli and the man at no 5, KL Rahul. By the time Kohli was dismissed on 85, the scoreboard read 167-4 and the match was all but sealed. Rahul eventually remained not out on 97, finishing the game off with a six. His intention was to hit a four so that he could have a crack at his century, but such was the timing of his shot that it carried all the way.
KL Rahul scored a total of 452 runs in the World Cup at an astonishing average of more than 75 with one hundred and two fifties, emerging as the 8th highest run-getter of the tournament. But on the day of the final, after an Indian top order failure,KL Rahul went into a shell. Even with Virat Kohli fighting at the other end, Rahul could never really shift gears. His innings will be a never-ending debate.
Rahul scored 67 runs off 107 balls with a strike rate of just 61.68. He was dismissed in the 42nd over. Now here’s the thing, when you have batted for so long and seen out the difficult phase, you have to be there till the end, especially with Suryakumar Yadav still at the crease. But this has been the story of KL Rahul, isn’t it? On his days he looks elegant, charming, effortless. And on other days he looks mentally flustered, scratchy and extremely restless.
KL Rahul did not have a great IPL 2024. Rishabh Pant made a comeback in that season after his horrific car accident and immediately made a statement. He led from the front, kept wickets, played all the shots that you associate with Rishabh Pant and cemented his place in India’s T20 World Cup squad. Pant played all the games in India’s victorious World Cup campaign and batted at no 3, something which clearly showed the amount of faith the team management had in him.
KL Rahul had an extremely decent Border Gavaskar Trophy but let’s not mix up formats. But then why did I bring this up? It was during this series that the team management decided to play musical chairs with KL Rahul’s batting order. In the absence of India’s regular test opener Rohit Sharma, KL was asked to open in the first test. KL reached Australia, practiced hard and played the practice game, with clear intentions of making a statement. Remember, he had two abysmal test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand on home soil just before this. Rahul started brilliantly as an opener.
So much so, that when Rohit came back, he pushed himself to no 6, something that did not suit the captain. One event unfolded after the other in that terrible series where Rahul’s batting form and batting order – both went for a toss.
The Champions Trophy campaign was lined up immediately post the Border Gavaskar Trophy. After such a stellar 50 overs World Cup, a lot of us thought Rahul would the obvious choice at no 5. ‘Galat jawab’ roared the head coach Gautam Gambhir (read in Amitabh Bachchan KBC style), as Axar Patel was promoted to no 5 ahead of KL Rahul. Axar responded well too, scoring crucial runs in the ODI series against England. The same batting order followed in the Champions Trophy, with captain Rohit Sharma clearly saying in the press conference before the semi final, that the team management has asked KL Rahul to bat at no 6 and Axar Patel to bat at 5.
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What does this tell you? Two things. One, you are obsessed with right-left combination and match ups. Two, clearly you rate Axar Patel higher as a batter than KL Rahul. With 30/3 inside the powerplay against New Zealand, Axar Patel was sent out and not KL Rahul. This was harsh on someone who emerged as the 8th highest run getter in the 50 overs World Cup batting at no 5 and did absolutely nothing wrong in the 50 overs matches in between.
KL was all too gracious in his press conference, admitting it was difficult to adjust so much, but he has been trying to play aggressive shots in the net sessions and he understands his team’s needs. Despite everything said and done, Rahul sort of underfired in the first three games leading up to the semi-final clash. He dropped chances off the Indian spinners in the New Zealand match, adding fuel to the fire. Rishabh Pant is a regular wicket keeper and the X factor player. If Rahul is not up to the mark as the frontline wicket keeper and he is ineffective at no 6, Pant should replace him immediately. However the team management felt otherwise, despite playing the musical chairs. Post the ODI series against England, head coach Gautam Gambhir made it clear that KL Rahul was India’s first-choice wicketkeeper batter in the 50 overs format.
On 4th March, 2025, Rahul showed why. He came in at 178-4, with India still needing 87 runs for the win. Rahul played the situation perfectly, milking the spinners for singles and twos, before he pressed on the accelerator in the 40th over. By clearing the boundary ropes twice in two overs, Rahul made his intent clear. He wanted Kohli to bat till the end while he would be taking the risks at the other end. However, this was not to be. With Kohli holing out against Adam Zampa, Rahul had to make sure he stayed till the end. With Hardik Pandya playing the release shots neatly every time the dot balls got big on him, Rahul was happy to play the supporting role at the other end. Fittingly, KL Rahul finished off the chase with a six. An invaluable knock of 42 runs off 34 balls at a strike rate of 123+ in a semi final on a pitch where batting was not so easy, was quite something.
Rahul has shown how eager he is to accept any role in the team just to be part of it. The team management has tested him by luring him into different roles, offering him a variety of chairs—not for him to choose from, but for them to select and thrust upon him. Post the semi final, Rahul will sit long on one of those chairs and take deep breaths.But exactly how long before the management hands him a new one? With an average of 48+ in ODIs, Rahul often gets the brick bats on social media, thanks to the agonizingly fickle public memory. When asked about his goal, Rahul aptly replied in his press conference that his ultimate goal was to win as many ICC trophies for India as possible. After all, non-regular wicket keepers with ‘Rahul’ in their names, have always done the selfless jobs as per their team’s needs.
(Special thanks – Trisha Ghosal)
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