Ravichandran Ashwin and Rishabh Pant hogged most of the limelight in India’s 280-run win over Bangladesh in Chennai. As crucial keeper-batter Pant’s comeback to Test cricket was for the team management, it also needed to gauge the condition of KL Rahul, who returned to the red-ball format after almost eight months.
In his comeback Test last week, Rahul scored 16 and an unbeaten 22 at No. 6. Are people, who matter in Indian cricket, pleased with his performance in Chennai?
India’s situation during the second innings was ideal for Rahul to play the game he’s comfortable with, thanks to the brisk 167-run fourth-wicket partnership between Shubman Gill and Pant. Facing 19 balls and hitting four boundaries, Rahul, though, could bat for only 28 minutes as India declared early keeping the weather forecast in mind.
On the opening day, Rahul, after facing 51 balls, was dismissed by off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz off a delivery which wasn’t really a wicket-taking one. Trying to work the ball to the on-side, he was caught at short leg. To be fair to Rahul, batsmen with bigger credentials in the current Indian team have also had massive problems against spinners lately.
But, according to a few in the Indian cricket fraternity, Rahul looked to be in “kind of a shell”, especially in the first innings. “That was not just in Chennai, but in this year’s Duleep Trophy too,” a BCCI official said.
In his lone Duleep appearance for India A, Rahul finished with scores of 37 (off 111 balls) and 57 (off 121 balls) in Bengaluru, batting at No. 4. His strike rate in both innings wasn’t outstanding, but according to Sunil Joshi, India A's head coach during Duleep, what matters is spending time in the middle and constructing an innings.
“In the Duleep game too, Rahul looked to construct the innings and it was a challenge for him against some good fast bowlers on a seaming wicket. He looked calm and cool and played to the merit of the ball. Intent-wise, he was perfect,” former India left-arm spinner Joshi, also a former national selector, told The Telegraph on Tuesday.
Of course, failure to get runs going forward will make Rahul’s place in the XI vulnerable, particularly with Sarfaraz Khan being among the reserves. But shouldn’t a batsman, who has seven of his eight Test tons overseas — a couple each in England and South Africa and one in Australia — be given a longer run, especially when not too many days remain for the Australia tour?
“His numbers in Tests abroad speak for themselves. He just needs to spend more time at the crease which will lead to runs, whoever the opposition is, because he has every shot in his armoury.
“He needs to consume more number of balls just to feel the red-ball intent because red-ball cricket is played session-wise,” Joshi explained.
It seems No. 6 will be the designated slot for Rahul in Tests for the moment. But for a cricketer who has batted in several other positions, including the opening slot, it shouldn’t matter much.