Going into the five-match Test series against England Indian side was short in experience. Although KL Rahul has come to the English shores have given a decent account of himself, he never managed to have a series where he completely dominated with the bat for the entire series despite his near-perfect technique to face the swinging ball.
However, this time around it was not the case right from his ton at Headingley, the batter continued his good form till the final game and ended up as the third-best run scorer of the series. “There was a question mark on KL Rahul, that when he found form at the start of the tour, he was not carrying it for long. However, you saw the performance like that here, where he performed consistently till the fifth Test,” Prathiv Patel said on StarSports..
“Especially when you are a senior player, when your new team is playing, his standing there was extremely necessary. He has batted extremely well, and along with that, he has taken excellent catches in the slips,” Parthiv observed.
Potential to runs
Former Indian Head Coach Ravi Shastri says Rahul’s potential will be converted into runs. “I think there was not one person in the world who denied his potential and said that he [Rahul] was not talented. What annoyed people was that, with that kind of talent, he was not delivering. And in this series, you’re seeing the best of Rahul,” Shastri said on the ICC Podcast. “What I am seeing is a slight adjustment he’s made with his front foot, in his stance, and while defending. It just opened up a bit, which allows his back to come through cleanly. Even when he’s hitting it towards mid-wicket, it’s the full face of the blade,” he said.
“He is sound technically, he has been as good as anyone. Especially, it’s not moved a lot in the series, but when it’s moved, he has had the game to look after that movement,” Shastri observed. “He’s at his prime. He has got to make these next three, four years count,” he said.
Rahul, because of the current circumstances in Indian cricket, will have a run as an opener in Indian conditions, which are relatively kinder to opening batters compared to conditions in England or Australia. “And I see him getting a lot of hundreds because he’s playing a lot of cricket in India as well. So whatever that average is, he should be close to 50,” Shastri predicted.
