KL Rahul the Upgraded Version: Patient, Self-aware and Goal-oriented, finds success against England

London, August 18: It required destiny to play a bizarre pattern for KL Rahul to find a place in the India playing 11 for the Test series against England. The first piece in that intriguing design was Covid-19 infection to Rishabh Pant, forcing the team management to draft in Rahul as wicketkeeper batsman in the side game against Combined County XI ahead of the first Test.

Rahul responded with a hundred. But that seemed insufficient for him as Pant recovered and returned to the squad and Mayank Agarwal set to open the innings along with Rohit Sharma. Here fate moved its second piece. Mohammad Siraj pinged Mayank on the head with a bouncer in the net session, and he was ruled out of the Trent Bridge Test due to concussion.

So, it was Rahul again. He made 84 and 26 at Nottingham to stay ahead of Mayank for the Lord's Test. Rahul made a classic hundred, his 6th in Test cricket, to place India in a commanding position. Now, he seemed to have hit that space of consistency that everyone dreamt him to be in for long.

That it came against England too fitted his career story perfectly. He made a 199 against them at Chennai in 2016 after a 158 against West Indies at Kingston that promised the dawn of Rahul the opener. But what followed was a slide. Rahul went through 29 century-less innings. Though he made 10 half-centuries, 7 of them in successive innings against Australia at home and Sri Lanka at Colombo and Pallekele, they did not push his stocks up in Test cricket.

He also copped fair bit of flak for not converting them into something more substantial, and for seemingly taking his place for granted in the side. But Rahul found temporary respite when he made a 149 at the Oval in 2018, even though the knock came in a losing cause.

However, Rahul once again flattered to deceive. After 12 modest innings (0, 4, 33, 2, 44, 2, 0, 9, 44, 38, 13, 6) since that hundred, Rahul was dropped from Test side after the away series against West Indies in 2019.

Two years down the line, a series against England has revived him again. Rahul seemed to have find peace and composure within himself in this interim. It reflected in his batting too so far. Rahul has already faced 532 balls in four innings during the current tour, reflecting his mindset to stay at the crease and soak in the pressure.

Imagine, Rahul had faced all of 450 deliveries in the 2018 series, and the Bengaluru man has possibly another three Tests ahead of him on this trip. He has been minimalistic with his shot selection too. Rahul has so far eschewed taking risks on the off-side, that often led to his doom in the last.

At Lord's alone, Rahul has left 21% per cent of balls alone (as per a CricViz analysis) during his hundred in the first innings and that's his highest so far while making a Test hundred. Rahul seemed to have learnt to respect the bowlers and conditions while they are on the top, and wait for his turn to impose himself - the hallmark of a good Test opener.

In fact, Rahul's first 50 balls in the first dig at Lord's fetched him only 10 runs and he did not panic or showed urgency to accelerate. He seemed contend in the knowledge that the rough phase will soon pass.

Rahul admitted as much. "Last time (in 2018), I was playing too many shots and I was thinking how I can score runs. This time, I just wanted to enjoy batting and focus on the role assigned to me. I didn't want to focus on personal goals. I am enjoying my batting more," he said.

"Last time (in 2018), I was just thinking about scoring my runs. Now, when the bowlers are in the midst of a good spell, I am trusting my technique, my defence. This is giving me the results," Rahul said in the post-match press conference.

This seems no false dawn!