'In the last 2 years, I've forgotten what my batting position is': KL Rahul, not Rishabh Pant, India's most solid batter
As Indian cricket heads into the future following the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, KL Rahul is sure of what is expected of him.
Look at KL Rahul today, and you see an individual at peace with himself. Someone who knows precisely what his role is, what his position is in the larger scheme of things is. Someone who is freed up in the mind and is therefore perfectly primed to make the most of his ability, of which he has plenty.
It hasn’t always been thus. Rahul is hailed as one of the more versatile and adaptable batters of his generation, which has more than occasionally worked against him. Need a batter at No. 6 who will also keep wicket in South Africa because Rishabh Pant is recuperating from the horrific injuries following a road accident? KL Rahul. Need a stop-gap No. 4 because Virat Kohli is away on paternity leave? KL Rahul, of course. Need a filler at the top of the batting order because Rohit Sharma is awaiting the birth of his second child? Who else but KL Rahul?
It’s great to be flexible and multi-skilled, but oftentimes in Rahul’s case, it has come at a huge price. “In the last couple of years, I've forgotten what my (batting) position is,” Rahul said on Monday, not long after bringing up his ninth Test hundred on day four of India’s first Test against England. Then, perhaps realising that he might be on the cusp of opening the proverbial Pandora’s Box, he quickly added, “I'm happy to be given different responsibilities and different roles. It makes the game exciting and makes me want to challenge myself and train that much harder and work on my game a little bit more.”
ALSO READ: Sunil Gavaskar ‘wanted to do the backstand’ after Rishabh Pant’s century: ‘If I could do it successfully…'
Clarity, calm and command: KL Rahul steps up as India’s Test anchor
Now, as Indian cricket heads into the future with an array of exceptional young talent that must carry the Test batting following the retirements of Rohit and Kohli, Rahul is sure of what is expected of him. To open the innings, which is what he has done most of his adult life and which is happiest and most at home doing. Already, the results of that role-clarity are obvious.
Rahul was India’s most solid batter across the two innings of the first Test at Headingley. Pant understandably attracted most of the plaudits – he will, won’t he, when he slams two hundreds in the same Test, a feat achieved only once before by a wicketkeeper-batter in the 148-year history of Test cricket? – but Pant is a freak, an unstoppable force, a maverick, impossible to emulate or compete with. Pant destroyed and decimated, enthralled and excited. He was the raging inferno. Rahul, by contrast, was all steely ice, unflappable, unflustered, untouched by the vagaries of the pitch, unaffected by the bite in the England attack.
MUST READ: Sachin Tendulkar erupts with 'calm and flair' reaction, Ganguly euphoric after Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul centuries
His brilliant 137 on Saturday, a masterclass in concentration and the great gift of putting the previous ball out of his mind, gave him more Test hundreds as an Indian opener in England (three) than anyone else. Eight of his nine centuries have come outside India, seven of them away from Asia, six in the SENA countries (two in South Africa and one in Australia to go with three here). He is the master of playing time, of making the bowlers come to him and then putting them away without fuss, his cover-driving an absolute thing of beauty and a joy forever but not his only felicitous stroke.
Of the specialist batters in this squad, no one has played more Tests (59) than the stylist from Bengaluru. Rahul has had a taste of conditions everywhere in the cricket world and is in prime position to share his knowledge and wisdom with the younger group comprising Yashasvi Jaiswal – with whom he put on 201 in Perth in November and 91 in Leeds on Friday – as well as new captain Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair, Rahul’s 33-year-old contemporary on the comeback trail after eight years.
Throughout his batting stints across the two innings at Headingley which spanned 490 minutes and 345 deliveries, Rahul was constantly in the ears of his numerous partners, not so much telling them what they should do and what they should not but keeping them honest without complicating things. He handled each of his colleagues differently, reiterating his man-management skills and taking on the role of the benevolent older brother that hitherto was Rohit’s. His multi-lingual skills allowed him to speak to different players in the language they are most comfortable with, his calmness an infectious trait that touched everyone else except Pant.
“You just stand there and admire and sometimes scratch your head about the shot selection and the outrageous cricket that he plays,” Rahul said, completely in awe of Pant. “He's a unique, unique player, you just let him be.” Might be a little late in the day, perhaps, but Rahul’s uniqueness too is beginning to manifest itself.
