KL Rahul’s Tryst With Superstardom Starts Now

In a team in transition, KL Rahul has a big year ahead of him.

It is becoming difficult to keep a track of the IPL these days. Just which one do we keep an eye on?

There is a Rahul (Chahar) with Punjab Kings, a Rahul (Tripathi) with Sunrisers Hyderabad, a Rahul (Tewatia) with Gujarat Lions and then there is a (KL) Rahul who is leading Lucknow Super Giants. And just to add more spice, there is a Rahul (Dravid) sitting in Bangalore watching all the other Rahuls perform.So we have a heady cocktail of Rahuls currently operating in Indian cricket and it only means one thing, that these are good times to be a Rahul.

But the Rahul we want to focus on is the man of the moment, Lucknow’s captain KL Rahul who has seen a fabulous turnaround in his cricketing career in the last 12 months.

He started 2021 unsure about where he was headed, what was going to happen to his career. However, by the time 2021 ended, he was in the top echelon of Indian cricket.

Rahul was named vice-captain of the Test side that toured South Africa and then even led the team in the second Test. Later with Rohit Sharma not available due to injury, Rahul took over the ODI skipper's role as well. This shows just how far he's travelled in the last 12 months to be considered a powerhouse in Indian cricket.

The big transition happened last year in England, when Rahul was meant merely to be an also-ran during the Test matches. But then things turned around when first choice opening partner for Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, got injured and went back to India. Mayank Agarwal was next in line, despite the fact that Rahul was around, and was all set to play the Test series but then tragedy struck. A ball from Mohammed Siraj hit Agarwal on the head during nets and he was ruled out of the first Test in England.

The rest, as they say, is history. Rahul jumped at the opportunity, opened with Sharma and never looked back. It was their partnership which ensured that India are currently leading the longest running Test series in history by 2-1!

Rahul gained even more prominence on the South Africa tour when Sharma and Gill were injured. He opened with Agarwal and scored a century to become only the second Indian opener to score a Test hundred in South Africa after Wasim Jaffer.

Rahul's rise has coincided with the changing power equations in the last six months in Indian cricket. With Virat Kohli stepping down as India’s captain in Test and T20I formats, then being sacked as ODI captain, things opened up. Ravi Shastri also bid goodbye to his tenure as head coach, which meant that a new structure emerged.

In came Rahul Dravid who by default was now dealing with a new captain as Sharma was out injured during the South Africa tour. KL Rahul now became a key element in the new management team and was pencilled in as vice-captain to Sharma.

But as ways are with KL Rahul, one thing that always keeps holding him back are freak injuries which put him out of action for several matches. This means that newer claimants emerge to put him under pressure. He missed a major part of the home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka because of an injury. This meant that Jasprit Bumrah emerged as a vice-captain and carried out his responsibilities very well. Then there is also Rishabh Pant lurking in the background. If you add Shreyas Iyer to the mix, then the list is complete.

The only thing going in KL Rahul’s favour is that when he is fit, he is a certainty in all three formats at varying positions. He can open in Tests, bat in the middle-order in ODIs and play as a floater in T20Is. What’s more, like the senior Rahul (Dravid), he can keep wickets too. So that’s a bonus which KL Rahul should learn to encash on.

In fact, for much of 2020 before the pandemic struck, KL Rahul was India’s chosen white-ball keeper. He kept and played in the middle-order in the ODIs, while in T20Is he opened. So he offered Kohli and Shastri a bit of flexibility.

But that changed after the Australia tour when Pant stole a march following the Gabba run fest. Rahul watched all that from the sidelines because he was not part of the XI first owing to combination and then due to an injury.

He is now hoping to make the most of the coming 12 months which could be a chaotic period in Indian cricket. A period where a lot could change in all three formats. Indian cricket lives and dies by World Cups.

In the next 20 months there are two World Cups. One later this year in Australia in the T20 format and then at home in the 50 over format. KL Rahul will be well aware that a loss in either tournament could mean that he could be catapulted into a full-time leadership role because of his presence in all three formats.

In Test cricket too, India's biggest challenge will be at home in 12 months’ time when Australia come visiting. Kohli & Co scripted a strong record with, Australia both at home and away, ensuring that India held onto the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But when Australia come next year, they will be rejuvenated following a fantastic Test series win in Pakistan in 2022. They also have a series in Sri Lanka, so Australia will come well prepared.

Rahul's role at the top of the order could be the crucial element in India keeping Australia’s marauding pacemen at bay. So a lot is at stake for Rahul personally and for Indian cricket in the coming months.

A period of transition, a period of change, and a fresh start could be on the anvil if India's performances on the field don’t match up to the hype around it.

Rahul made a fine start in IPL 2022 by leading Lucknow competently and by also making runs. His second IPL hundred against the fancied Mumbai Indians went down well with a lot of followers of the game because he played a classical knock. He did not ‘murder’ the ball, but caressed it and yet walked away with a hundred.

He has been impressive yet again with the bat in the IPL and that’s a good sign with the T20 World Cup around the corner. He is calm and collected as a leader, which is another good sign after around eight years of aggression on the field by a former India captain.

KL Rahul’s biggest concern, however, is Rahul himself and he needs to be guarded against that. His injuries hold him and put him out of action for long periods. If he stays fit and bats as well as he has done thus far, he could be the man to take Indian cricket forward.

But just like the older Rahul, the younger one is also expected to play multiple roles in Indian cricket and that is a lot of pressure to handle. Just hope the older Rahul will learn from his experience and avoid putting the younger version through the same rigmarole.

So which Rahul do you want to keep a track of now?