KL Rahul was all of us – a nervous wreck when wickets fell around him. First, Axar Patel, then Hardik Pandya. But thankfully, Rahul, who was crucial to India's chances, remained unbeaten until the very end to help India win their third ICC Champions Trophy. Ravindra Jadeja scored the winning runs, but Rahul's 34 not out of 33 balls was as important – if not more – as any other significant Indian contribution.
After the match, Rahul, in a very rare show of emotions, admitted that he was feeling then heat himself. He walked out to bat when a fabulous partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel was broken. India still needed 69 runs to win, with New Zealand spinners applying the squeeze. If there was one batter India needed the most at that moment, it was Rahul, and KL, who's found himself in this situation way too many times off late, did not let India down.
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"I don't think I can say this on camera but I was shi***** myself. We had a couple of batters to come but I was tense. It's all about keeping yourself calm and composed in situations like this. I think I've batted in times like this in 3 out of the 5 games (in this CT) and in one of the games I didn't get to bat at all against Pakistan," said Rahul while speaking to the host broadcaster.
"Hard to put it into words, pure skill and the way we've all played our cricket growing up, had to face a lot of challenges, we've had to face pressure from the time we've held a bat and decided to become professional cricketers. The way the BCCI has groomed us and the domestic circuit has trained us to handle pressure and do well in circumstances like these."
KL Rahul's India ice-cool man
{{/usCountry}}"Hard to put it into words, pure skill and the way we've all played our cricket growing up, had to face a lot of challenges, we've had to face pressure from the time we've held a bat and decided to become professional cricketers. The way the BCCI has groomed us and the domestic circuit has trained us to handle pressure and do well in circumstances like these."
KL Rahul's India ice-cool man
{{/usCountry}}Under fire heading into the Champions Trophy, Rahul appeared a totally different player throughout India's campaign. His knock of 41 against Bangladesh wasn't exactly one of his highest scores by any stretch of the imagination, but it was extremely important given the situation of the match. Rahul didn't get a chance to bat against Pakistan as the batters above him got the job done for India, but when it came to playing the BlackCaps in the league stage, another important innings of 23 gave him confidence.
Rahul's first real test of the Champions Trophy came against Australia in the semi-final, where he remained unbeaten on 42 and hit the winning runs. And on the day of the final, Rahul continued his brilliant form to end the tournament on a high.