New Delhi [India], March 11 (ANI): Venue- Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Date- November 19, 2023. India had surrendered the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup trophy in the final to a Travis-charged Australia following an unprecedented 10-match win streak, leaving the entire country contemplating that after years of heartbreaks, following cricket was even worth it anymore.
As India’s powerhouse batting line-up could make just 240 runs before bundling out in 50 overs during that traumatic Ahmedabad final, plenty of Indian and foreign voices, be it fans and experts alike, tried to find a reason.
While some blamed it on skipper Rohit Sharma’s carelessness to go for a big hit against part-timer Glenn Maxwell after collecting 10 runs in two balls, some pointed out big-time failures of Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav making their first-ever World Cup final appearances. Despite all varying opinions, one point looked too obvious and seemed to meet consensus of many: KL Rahul choked once again, pushing his team ten steps backwards with his knock of 66, which took up 107 balls, including 49 dots and consisted of just boundary. But almost one and the half years later, KL has delivered a reply fully befitting his class, talent and immense potential.
Following the 2023 WC final, there were calls for Rahul to be kicked out of the ODI team by fans when he was selected as a captain for the South Africa tour. Rahul batted at number four, scoring 77 runs in two innings with a fifty at a strike rate of almost 78.
As India continued its quest towards T20 World Cup 2024, Rahul was not a part of it following a disappointing outing at the 2022 T20 World Cup, which consisted of just 128 runs in six innings at a sub-par strike rate of over 120 and two half-centuries. A 520-run IPL 2024 season with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) with four half-centuries and a relatively conservative scoring rate of 136.12 in a season where strike rates and batting totals soared to new heights kept KL out of T20 World Cup plans.
While the criticism around KL’s T20 game followed and he was mocked by some section of fans on social media, the 2023 World Cup still had a firm grip on KL’s head. During a conversation on cricketer and teammate Ravichandran Ashwin’s YouTube channel, KL revealed his biggest regret in the tournament, being indecisive about whether to attack Mitchell Starc’s lethal “reversing” deliveries or not.
“The World Cup final against Australia, I was stuck in the moment, whether to take down Starc or just play him as it was reversing, bowling in tough angle – in that confusing I ended up nicking it – if I could have played till the end, it could have been 30+ runs & probably World Cup in our hands – that is what I regret,” said a remorseful Rahul as he tried to put a sentence together.
Once the man who looked set to dominate the T20 scene following multiple productive years with Punjab Kings (PBKS) and brilliant outings with Team India, including two quickfire centuries in 46 and 53 balls, had to watch India’s drought-breaking ICC T20 World Cup win at Barbados from the sidelines.
Bad times continued following KL, as during the Sri Lanka ODI series in August, the right-handed batter was not even given his usual number-five batting spot, where he has thrived with 1,299 runs in 31 matches at an average of 56.47, strike rate of over 96, two centuries and nine fifties. In order to give Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube some time with the bat in order to test combinations ahead of the Champions Trophy and to maintain a left-right combination, KL was demoted to number six and seven. He managed meagre returns of 31 runs in two innings, including a duck.
Heading into the Champions Trophy, the accumulator was turned into a finisher. While he registered a fine of 40 in 29 balls in the third ODI against England at number five, he had poor outings at number six in other two matches, scoring just two and 10.
Rahul started the Champions Trophy by sealing a win against Bangladesh with a six, much like another long-haired Indian wicketkeeper-batter (MS Dhoni) who did so in the 2011 World Cup final. KL made 41* in 47 balls, with a four and two sixes, following it with a disappointing knock of 23 in 29 balls, with a four against New Zealand.
However, in the knockouts, KL stepped up big time against two teams that haunted him in the past, Australia and New Zealand (which started his poor knockout run with a 1-run knock in the 2019 WC semifinals).
In the semis against Australia, KL held the innings together with Virat Kohli during a tense 265-run chase and put on the finishing touches with his calculated aggression. Smashing a Glenn Maxwell delivery for a huge six to seal the match, unbeaten at 42* in 34 balls (two fours and two sixes), the batter delivered a statement that he was ready for the finals. In the finals, an equally tensed 252-run chase followed. India was 203/5 in 41.3 overs. KL put together brief partnerships with Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, staying till the end with a score of 34* in 33 balls, with a four a six.
With this win, India landed its second-successive white-ball title, with Rahul acing a newly-handed finisher role in the knockouts, a stage of tournaments for long considered his weakness. As the fireworks lit up the Dubai International Stadium and its skies, KL raised his bat, looking towards the skies, as if liberating himself from his past demons, watching all the tension and weight of past failures leaving his body with a sigh of relief.
Following the match, KL admitted that he was tense as much as he was confident about winning the game for India.
“Keeping composure is all that matters, happy to have done it this time. I have batted in times like this in three out of the five games. Hard to put in words, but the team has pure skill. The way we have all had to play cricket growing up, we faced pressure from the time we became professional cricketers. The BCCI have groomed all of them and we have challenging ourselves to get better,” he added.
After the match, Rahul earned praise from his skipper, who said during the post-match presser, “When we discussed about KL’s batting position, that is one thing we discussed quite deeply about how calm he is when he is batting. The pressure does not get to him with that calmness, we wanted that calmness in the middle somewhere. And also, we wanted to use a left-hander in the middle. So that actually worked out in both ways for us.”
KL ended the Champions Trophy with 140 runs in four innings at an average of 140.00, a strike rate of 97.90, way higher than his career strike rate of over 88, as one of the heroes of India’s campaign. Having redeemed himself from past failures, will KL wear a new, confident skin and pull a new leaf in his career? (ANI)
