Time for KL Rahul to be seen as a T20I giant
BCCI
A little more than three years ago, a young Karnataka boy was living the American dream. Well, by that, Iâm recalling the time he scored the final of his three maiden hundreds across formats, all of them by hitting a SIX. And this time it was on American soil.
Having started his career with the red-ball, it was then that the Karnataka batsman had announced his arrival as a limited-overs star. What happened on Friday, in the 1st T20I against West Indies, was just another show by the âstarâ weâre talking about. As youâve guessed, itâs KL Rahul, who scored a flamboyant 40-ball 62 to build Indiaâs innings in their pursuit of the 208-run target. Kohli mightâve been the match-winner in the game, but the base was built by none other than our main man, Rahul, despite the captain struggling at 20 off 20 at one point. Itâs time to term such performances as âclassic Rahulâ as he has maintained remarkable numbers in T20Is right since his debut.
While we all loved witnessing his exploits as a No.4, as both of Rahulâs T20I tons have come at that batting position, his significance as an opener has helped Indiaâs cause time and again. India have finally settled on playing him as an opener in the shortest format. As was seen on Friday, Rahul single-handedly took charge of building momentum in the initial stages before Kohli fired. Rahul also completed 1000 T20I career runs in the said game, becoming the seventh Indian to reach the milestone. He reached the feat in only 29 innings, with only Babar Azam (26 innings) and Kohli (27) ahead of him.Â
A year ago, we might have believed that the careers of KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya will be facing a hard and long break. Especially, Rahulâs, since his form in ODIs and Tests had fallen massively. However, he made a solid comeback to International Cricket by scoring a splendid 36-ball fifty as an opening batsman. That had settled him into the setup as a designated opener, but a permanent one?
Indian openers since KL Rahul's debut in June 2016 © ESPNCricinfoNow the fact that he accumulated those numbers across all batting positions in the top order has put him into a weird kind of trouble. Rahul has been accommodating smoothly as a No 4, as India were still looking for a stable batsman at that particular position, and as an opener when Shikhar Dhawan was either away or out of form. India have now, after many iterations, zeroed in on Shreyas Iyer as their No.4.
However, itâs unfortunate that heâs still not the first choice as opener in T20Is as favouritism has prefered Shikhar Dhawan over him. It was only after Dhawanâs injury that Rahul became the âpreferredâ one in the ongoing series against West Indies. And once again Rahul, who had also played for India in the 2019 World Cup under similar circumstances, delivered what heâs expected to.
Amongst all T20I batsmen, since KL Rahulâs debut in June 2016, the 27-year-old cricketer is only second to Pakistanâs Babar Azam and is in the league of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.Â
T20I batsmen( min 30 matches) since KL Rahul's debut in June 2016 © ESPNCricinfoAnd the fact is, Rahul is not just better than Dhawan or even Rohit Sharma, but also is one of the best among his own contemporaries. Precisely, only second to Pakistanâs Babar Azam and Afghanistanâs Hazratullah Zazai among openers. And his splendour in the shortest format is not just limited to the international setup. Even in the last two seasons of the Indian Premier League, he has the batsman has produced incredible numbers. In IPL 2018, Rahul has amassed 659 runs at 54.91 and ended up third in the list, after Kane Williamson(735) and Rishabh Pant(684). In IPL 2019, Rahul(593) scored the second-most runs of the season, second to only David Warner(692).
T20I batsmen since KL Rahul's debut in June 2016 © ESPNCricinfoWith the WT20 scheduled in Australia next year, India has more or less finalized a first string of players who will fly down under. But there are some underlying issues and unsolved puzzles in the mix as well. While India are still finalizing their fourth pacer and a second spinner, itâs time for the management to realize that relying on Dhawan as their primary opener is a farce. They wouldnât want to fall in the same pit as what they did ahead of the 2019 World Cup with all the No 4 drama. Itâs time for India to fixate on Rahul and for the world to recognize him as a T20I giant.Â
