The Man who beat Virat Kohli

The Man who beat Virat Kohli

New improved Rahul, no longer just a Test specialist  :-

 

 

                               image source(wisden)

 

 

 

 

KL Rahul is an excellent batsman. Anyone who has tracked the last few years of the Ranji Trophy knows that. The world also got a glimpse of his abilities when he shrugged off a horror start to his Test career, in Melbourne in December 2014, to score 110 in Sydney in the next game. A few months later, in his fourth Test in August 2015, he made 108 in Colombo. Rahul failed in his next Test and has been out on the sidelines since then, though that also has to do with the fact that first-choice openers M Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan have been fit and firing.

 

 

Rahul, who has been a stalwart for Karnataka as they rose to dizzying heights in the domestic circuit, is hardly the sort of player you would associate with Twenty20 cricket. In the Indian Premier League over the years, for example, Rahul has largely been a peripheral act. There. But not counted upon to do too much. At Sunrisers Hyderabad last season, he did get nine of the 14 games his team played, showed a sense of responsibility in the middle overs, and scored a few runs. But not much of what he did stayed in memory. In fact, in 39 T20 games overall before the start of this IPL, Rahul just had 653 runs.

 

 

Assuming, then, that there were no major secrets hidden away, when Royal Challengers Bangalore acquired Rahul for the 2016 season from Hyderabad, they would have bargained for not much more than what he had done the previous season. And then, with Kedar Jadhav as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman, the tournament started with Rahul warming the bench for the first two games.

Things changed because of an update from Jamaica, Chris Gayle’s partner delivering the couple’s first baby, which meant Gayle had to rush back home. A hole at the top then. Jadhav out. Rahul in as wicketkeeper-batsman. Changes all around, in fact.

 

 

And since then, even as his fluffed chances behind the stumps hurt Bangalore, in front of the stumps, he has been outstanding. Possibly better than, dare we say it, Virat Kohli. Certainly more consistent. One can argue, of course. Kohli has scored two hundreds in the eight games Rahul has played, and also has a 33, an 80, and a 52. But he has also had three failures. Rahul, meanwhile, got off slowly with 23 against Mumbai Indians and 7 against Rising Pune Supergiants, but has since recorded 51 not out, 51, 52, 38, 42 and 68 not out, the last one coming against Mumbai Indians in Bangalore in a losing cause on Wednesday (May 11). Rahul’s strike rate is 143.10 to Kohli’s 141.29, and he is second only to Kohli in the averages for Bangalore – 55.33 to 71.00.

 

 

Anyway, better than Kohli or not is a pointless debate. We are, after all, trying to compare Rahul to a giant of the modern game here. Point is that Rahul has delivered, and delivered above expectations, in a format not suited for him. In a team with Kohli, AB de Villiers, Gayle and Shane Watson, he has stood out as an unlikely hero. If Kohli or Bangalore claim that they had expected exactly this from Rahul when they picked him, it would be hard to take without more than just a pinch of salt.

 

 

On Wednesday, Rahul was outstanding.

 

 

Consider the circumstances. After having moved to the top of the order to open with Kohli once Gayle flew away (and was then left out on his return), Rahul had to drop down to No. 4 against Mumbai, with de Villiers at No. 3. But, in a way, it was like opening – something his more celebrated namesake and statemate Rahul Dravid did for years for practically all the teams he ever played for – as he walked in in the fourth over with Kohli and Gayle gone and the scoreboard reading 17 for 2.

“That's what we discuss in team meetings, that you need to be flexible and need to bat well when the team needs you to,” said Rahul diplomatically about being demoted. “Obviously, losing Chris and Virat early wasn't the ideal start. It felt like opening the batting as I went in there early, so it didn't make much of a difference.

 

 

“Chris is dangerous up the order and we all know if he fires, he can get us to 200-250 on any wicket on any ground. You back a guy like Chris Gayle to go out there and give his best for the team. You can't always expect him to deliver; sometimes it doesn't happen. That's why there are ten other guys to go out there and give their best for the team.”

 

 

His partner as Bangalore rebuilt was de Villiers, uncharacteristically subdued on the night, and it was left to Rahul to up the scoring rate, which he did by punishing Jasprit Bumrah in the ninth over for a six and a four. Overall, in his unbeaten 68 in 53 balls, he hit three fours and four sixes, the last of those a remarkable flick-sweep – or was it a sweep-flick, or what we call a ‘whip’ because there is no formal word for it? – to deep square-leg off a Mitchell McClenaghan yorker.

Point is that Rahul has delivered, and delivered above expectations, in a format not suited for him. In a team with Kohli, AB de Villiers, Gayle and Shane Watson, he has stood out as an unlikely hero. If Kohli or Bangalore claim that they had expected exactly this from Rahul when they picked him, it would be hard to take without more than just a pinch of salt.

 

 

It didn’t matter in the end, as Bangalore lost with a fair bit to spare, but Rahul played his part in giving Bangalore a chance, of that there is no doubt.

“After losing Virat and Chris early, we had to change plans, obviously. The wicket was sticky, a bit damp, so it wasn't easy to go out there and start hitting the ball straightaway,” explained Rahul later. “That's what me and AB discussed, to take our time initially and if we batted out ten overs, then we could look at a target after that. We were building a decent partnership till he got out. Batting wasn't easy in the first innings. After losing the first two wickets, we decided to get around 140-150 (Bangalore got 151 for 4), which was an ideal score that we discussed in the Strategic Timeout. We were happy with what we got.”

 

And Rahul was chiefly responsible for that.

 

All along, though, his wicketkeeping has been criticised, Kohli semi-jokingly saying the other day that the only alternative if the team balance had to be maintained was to make de Villiers keep wickets.

 

 

Rahul had a better night on Wednesday than when Andre Russell profited from his lapses and won Kolkata Knight Riders the game on May 2.

 

 

But his team didn’t, first with the bat and then with the ball, Rahul collecting everything as Chris Jordan, Watson and Varun Aaron sent in eight wides, to go with two no-balls. The target was overhauled with eight balls to spare.

 

 

“In T20s, extras at the end of the day will cost you games,” agreed Rahul. “They say catches win games and giving less extras will build pressure on the batsmen. A few extras, the bowlers were trying to get wickets that time, and we needed wickets, that was the only thing that could have won us the game. So they backed themselves to get something right but didn't execute it too well this game but it happens with everybody. We need to look at our plans ahead for the coming games and back ourselves.

 

 

“The plans are clear – we need to win all our games (Bangalore have 8 points from 10 games). I honestly believe that the team is peaking; the batting has come together, we're fielding well, we're taking some good catches, the bowling is getting better and better with each game. To defend 150 and take it to the 19th over at the Chinnaswamy is actually a job well done by the bowlers.”

 

 

Not sure about the team’s bowling, but Rahul’s batting has certainly gotten ‘better and better with each game’. Bangalore’s prospects of reaching the playoffs are looking rather iffy at this stage, but Rahul, long hair and beard adding to the changed persona, has certainly done his bit with the bat this season to be thought of as more than just a Test player. His wicketkeeping can do with some work, but come IPL 2017, Rahul must be rated higher than he has been so far. Those performances are becoming more and more memorable, after all.