Aakash Chopra explains how KL Rahul made a comeback as Test opener in England

In a column on ESPNCricinfo, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra explained how Rahul was able to make a comeback as a Test opener for India.

The journey started for KL Rahul to make a return as an opener for the Indian Test cricket team started off with a slate of injuries. Shubman Gill was ruled out of the England Test series due to a wrist injury, followed by a concussion-related injury to Mayank Agarwal during a training sessio. With no options left in the squad, India had to go ahead with KL Rahul as Rohit Sharma's opening partner against England.

India's KL Rahul celebrates his century Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/File Photo (Action Images via Reuters)

The right-handed showcased his talents in the first Test at Trent Bridge scoring 84 runs, and he followed it up with a ton at Lord's in the 2nd Test, receiving the man of the match for his performance.

In a column on ESPNCricinfo, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra explained how Rahul was able to make a comeback as a Test opener for India.

"'Eager' has two very different meanings - keen and anxious. When you start, you are keen. But little do you know when keenness turns into anxiety. You start thinking too much about the result and too little about the process. It's not that you aren't putting in the hours, but you stop noticing the joy of playing the game, the melody of ball hitting the bat. And then one day, you stop obsessing about the result and things start to fall in place again.

"Rahul's comeback as an opener in Test cricket wasn't so much about his ability to succeed at the top - you don't score five Test tons (four of them away from home) if you don't have the skills. For me, it was about his eagerness to do the right thing. Was he keen or was he anxious?" Chopra wrote.

'If his first innings of the tour, 84 at Trent Bridge, showed that he's trusting his skills against the new ball, Rahul's century at Lord's established that he is back for good.

"It takes a lot of patience and self-belief to hang around for 18 runs off 100 balls when you know you have the shots to score faster, and to also insulate yourself from the fact that your opening partner has outscored you massively (at that point, Rohit Sharma was on 81 of 122 balls)," he further added.

"Rahul isn't anxiously eager to get bat on ball and is in a happy place while leaving a lot of deliveries alone. He isn't anxiously eager to hit an extra shot on the up either. Instead, he's willing to bide his time and wait for the right moment to up the ante. It's not that minor errors will never find their way into his batting or that he'll never go out of form again, but it's very heartening to see him bat the way he is right now. The next challenge for him is to extend this good form for as long as possible," he signed off.