KL Rahul, calm and proving a perfect fit for India
Dubai: “I don’t think I can say this on camera, but I was s****ing myself at the end.” It was good of KL Rahul to say that because athletes are conditioned to conceal their vulnerabilities. What’s a proven performer until he absorbs pressure?
With the toss simply not going India’s way, they were asked to chase in four of the five matches of the Champions Trophy. Thrice Rahul showed that he was the best man for a difficult job – 41* vs Bangladesh, 42* vs Australia, 34* vs New Zealand – one who would not buckle under pressure when the heat is on coming in at the crucial No.6 spot.
Rahul was earlier referring to the closing moments of the final when he got to the crease with India needing 69 runs at a little over run-a-ball. Rahul may have watched from the change room South Africa crumble against India in last year’s T20 World Cup final with less than half the runs to get at the same scoring rate. Having a bagful of strokes is what catches the eye; keeping a calm head is a less appreciated virtue.
“When we spoke about KL’s batting position, that is one thing we discussed quite deeply –
how calm he is when he is batting. The pressure doesn’t get to him. We wanted that calmness in the middle somewhere,” India skipper Rohit Sharma said.
In direct competition with Rishabh Pant, a destructive batter par excellence, Rahul left no doubt that he was the right choice. “I’ve been taught from a very early age by my coaches that cricket is a team game and whatever the team requires of you, you need to be able to do that. You need to be able to accept that firstly and find a way to put in performances for the team and understand what your role is, what the responsibility is, what it takes to be successful batting in different positions,” Rahul said.
Rahul once opened, later batted at No.5. To break the right-handed monotony, he dropped to No.6 in this tournament. “It requires a lot of preparation, a lot of work outside the cricket field,” he said. “Just sitting and thinking about how I need to take each game and perform in different situations. Just watched some of the players that I like and players who bat at No.5-6 and how they’ve been successful previously. So just watch, learn and understand my role. I’m happy that I’ve been able to perform.”
From recent vintage, India’s previous wicket-keeper batter was the among the best to get the team across the finish line in close run chases. Indeed, Rahul may have been referring to MS Dhoni. Like Dhoni, Rahul’s judgement of DRS calls reveals another layer of his cricketing acumen. In the final itself, India may not have lost a review over a lbw appeal of Tom Latham if Rohit had gone with Rahul’s word that Ravindra Jadeja’s delivery was too high.
“Most of the time, it’s an instinctive call,” Rahul said. “15 seconds is a very short time. The bowler always feels that every ball is out, which takes out five seconds. In the next 10, we have to make a decision and so many people rush in. The hardest thing is to not listen to 4-5 people giving their views and just to tune that out and give the captain a clear view of what you feel.”
Often judged on his T20 shortcomings over his scoring rate – public censure by his previous IPL team owner splashed across TV screens last year – Rahul the ODI cricketer is as good as any for the role he plays. Even though his previous stints as captain didn’t go to plan, his leadership skills within the team set up are well appreciated.
