What has worked for KL Rahul in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25?

KL Rahul- the name is a curious case study in Indian cricket. The man, not long ago, was under the scanner after India’s Test series whitewash at home at the hands of New Zealand. In fact, there were calls for him to be axed from the squad for the Australia tour. Instead, the head coach Gautam Gambhir, and captain Rohit Sharma backed him to the hilt and Rahul was among the first players to reach Down Under to play for India A against Australia A.

Fast forward from November to December 19, he is the best Indian batter on the tour by a distance. Rahul is the second-highest run-scorer of the series with 235 runs to his name in six innings at an average of 47. The second-best for India on the tour is Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has scored 193 runs, 161 of which came in the second innings of the first Test.

The likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma among many others have found the going tough on this tour. Then what has KL Rahul done right in the Border Gavaskar Trophy to score as many runs so far? Let us analyse this in detail:

Respected the conditions

KL Rahul has been the best opener so far in the series. He realized early that it is important to respect the conditions and allow the bowlers to dominate the proceedings with the new ball. With the conditions assisting the bowlers to start with, Rahul has made sure to not play any expansive shots.

Instead, he put his guard down and batted with discipline, making sure he didn’t throw his wicket away. Having the experience of playing in Australia before has also worked wonders for him. He knows the runs are there for the taking once the ball gets softer and that’s exactly what he did.

Proper Test match batting and technique

The evolution of T20 and T10 formats has sent the defensive technique of the modern-day batters for a toss. In the name of aggression, the batters are not putting a price on their wicket. Aggressive batting in Test cricket doesn’t mean that you have to start hitting from ball one and, literally every delivery.

There is a difference between aggressive batting and mindless batting. The latter is happening a lot these days with no patience to grind out tough phases. Test cricket is all about grinding out if things are not going your way, being patient, and soon you will be rewarded.

KL Rahul has just rolled back the clock to the early 2000s, showcasing proper defensive technique. With the conditions heavily in favour of pace bowlers, India’s opener has shelled the aggression completely out of his batting. That doesn’t mean that he went into the shell completely. He chose the right deliveries to score and it paid him rewards.

Trust in his methods

When things are not going your way, it is very important to have belief in your methods and that’s what KL Rahul has done. He landed in Australia with a huge uncertainty surrounding his place not only in the playing XI but also in the squad. This was probably the last chance for him to prove his worth.

Mind you, he was set to bat in the middle-order on this tour only for skipper Rohit Sharma to miss the first Test for the birth of his second child and Rahul became the make-shift opener. The arrangement was temporary but the way he batted in Perth led to Rohit deciding to not disturb the opening slot.

What did Rahul do then? Well, having played the format since 2014 and with an experience of playing more than 50 Test matches, Rahul overcame all the demons to show amazing mental fortitude. It would’ve been very easy for him to look for quick boundaries with attacking fields set at the start of the innings.

Instead, he played for the team- playing out the new ball and forcing the fast bowlers to bowl at him in multiple spells. The result? Easy runs came at the other end with the likes of Jaiswal and Kohli scoring centuries in Perth. Rahul might not have scored a century yet in his series but he has faced 92.6 deliveries per innings so far which is more than 15 overs.

If an opener is batting for that period at one end, then two things definitely happen - New ball is blunted out enough and the pace bowlers of the opposition are forced to come on to bowl in multiple spells, thereby tiring them out. With two Test matches still to go, India need KL Rahul to bat the same way and it is high time that the other batters step up too with a place in the WTC final at stake.