KL Rahul thinks ‘strike rates are overrated’. He said it when he was the captain of the Punjab Kings in the IPL. He repeated his opinion as Lucknow Super Giants skipper, last year and once again reiterated his point of view at his franchise’s jersey relaunch event recently.
The manner in which Rahul blends his batting philosophy with what’s expected of him to bring results for LSG will hold the key when the IPL gets underway in a fortnight. It may also have a bearing on Rahul’s T20I future. But for now, he can set the strike rate debate aside and simply look to regain confidence through ODI cricket. It may also help him smooth over the pain of losing his Test spot.
R Ashwin had predicted that ODI cricket would help Virat Kohli bring back the flow to his Test batting and it did. Rahul could also look to ODIs, with the first of the three matches against Australia starting on Friday, with the same hope.
An extremely scrambled calendar has seen India rush from one format to another and it is important to remember that Rahul has been donning the gloves and batting in the middle order for the last two ODI series he has played in. It’s a role, the think tank wants Rahul to make his own in an ODI World Cup year, with Rishabh Pant’s return a long way off.
“We all know that KL Rahul is a wonderful player. He has a proven record in ODIs in the middle order. He brings a lot of balance to the team,” T Dilip, India fielding coach told reporters on Wednesday. “Also, he is not someone who has picked up the gloves just now. He has been doing it from a younger age. So, it’s not very difficult to work on his wicket-keeping skills apart from refining a few aspects.”
Rahul said during the previous home series against Sri Lanka, that he was warming up to the new role. “About batting at no. 5, one thing I really enjoy is that you don’t rush back to bat (compared to the role of an opener). You can put your feet up, have a shower, have a good meal and react to the situation. If the team requires me to bat at a certain strike rate I try and do it to the best of my ability. More often than not, I just try and do the job the team wants… that has been my mindset,” he had said.
Some of his more fluent innings have come opening the batting. But like every other format, Rahul has struggled to make the spot his own. With captain Rohit Sharma opening, Shubman Gill being prepped to combine with him and Virat Kohli a permanent fixture at no 3, the middle order is Rahul’s best and only window of opportunity. Although Sharma is taking a break from the 1st ODI, Ishan Kishan, not Rahul, is expected to open.
Rahul’s scoring tempo while batting in the middle may change, but his career returns while batting between no 4-7 are better than his opening numbers – 878 runs, Avg 48.77 in 25 matches as against 915 runs, Avg 43.57 in 23 matches. A closer look shows that his best runs – 658 runs, Avg 50.62 in 16 innings – have come while batting at no.5. While the batting approach is often dictated by the match situation, even a knock like his unbeaten 64 in 103 balls during a tricky run chase in the previous series against Sri Lanka at Kolkata had its own value.
The last wicket-keeper bat who mastered the art of batting in different gears in the middle order was MS Dhoni. The former skipper also knew how to end innings with a flourish. It is a job that may fall upon Rahul regularly too, if he’s the one being backed for the World Cup. His ODI batting numbers in 2022 (251 runs in 10 matches, average 27.88) though were poor and he will need to better them but his previous numbers as the keeper-batsman have been promising.
With the World Cup to be played in India, there may be several matches with over 300 runs being scored and that’s where someone like Suryakumar Yadav would want to leave an impact. In Shreyas Iyer’s absence, this series offers an opportunity for the T20 run-machine to push his ODI case.
FITNESS CONCERNS
Most of the players from the recently concluded Test series against Australia did not turn up for the optional practice session at the Wankhede stadium on Wednesday. Hardik Pandya, who will lead in Rohit Sharma’s absence, Kishan, Yadav, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar and Jaydev Unadkat went through the drills in an afternoon net session.
Dilip confirmed Shreyas Iyer would be missing the series after the re-occurrence of his back injury. Before Iyer, pacer Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Sen, Deepak Chahar had also reported unfit after being given the green signal by the National Cricket Academy (NCA). With questions being raised over the existing return-to-fitness protocols in Indian cricket, Dilip came to the system’s defence. “Regarding injuries, they are part and parcel of sport. We have the best medical facilities. Our medical team are co-ordinating with the NCA medical team,” he said.
