Rahul puts on show a masterclass in batting

Centurion: Little less than a year ago, KL Rahul was catching up with friends from the Karnataka team at a neighbourhood pub in Bengaluru.

Having been dropped from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy side after failures in the first two Tests, Rahul probably needed some distraction. But you could tell he couldn’t get out of his head. 

Even as his friends attempted to lighten the mood, Rahul sat bolt upright in a hoodie. He wasn’t quite there. Perhaps, in his head, he reckoned the end of the road in Tests. 

Rightly so because he hadn’t scored a century since December 26, 2021. Although that 123 against South Africa on a vicious pitch should’ve made him feel indispensable, he had gone a full twelve innings with only one half-century.

The long rope wasn’t so long anymore, and so, Rahul was at this pub, possibly exaggerating scenarios in his head while Karnataka cricketers Ronit More, David Mathias and a couple of others spoke at him.

They eventually shut shop for the night, but before leaving Rahul walked over, said something to the effect of ‘I’m not done’, smiled and exited the door.  

On Wednesday, KL Rahul scored his eighth Test century. Date: December 27, 2023. 

Poignant as the date is, well almost, the significance of this knock on his career, and the impact it had on the opening Test cannot be overstated. 

Firstly, this is Rahul’s first century as a middle-order batter; and his seventh outside India. 

Secondly, no other batter in the history of the game has scored two Test hundreds at the SuperSport Park. 

Thirdly, India were desperate for someone to save them after their early struggles in the innings, and Rahul delivered. 

India were down four wickets for 92 runs after losing Shreyas Iyer in the 27th over. 

Rahul, unperturbed, went about his role with wide-eyed nonchalance. He got hit a couple of times, received some medical treatment, he got back to it.  

Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur and Bumrah were all out in the span of 99 runs, meaning it was down to Rahul to steer India past 200.

As Mohammed Siraj kept one end up, Rahul began picking off the runs. At stumps, India had reached 208 for 8. 

There was a feeling that this was a competitive enough score given the conditions, but Rahul’s Wednesday morning transition from a stoic to an ultra-aggressive cricketer of the new era was a sight to behold.

His first four boundaries of the day - two each off Gerald Coetzee and Kagiso Rabada - were all textbook shots with his head firmly on top of the contact point. 

But then it all changed once the pitch started to do a little more than he anticipated - the bounce was a bit unpredictable and there was late lateral movement. Plus, the lights weren’t so good so spotting the ball was an issue.

So, Rahul, on 89 at the time, launched into Rabada with a slap-pull over deep square leg. It was not the kind of shot anyone, least of all the bowler, expected at that moment. It was such an antithesis to Rahul’s ploy until that point. 

Siraj’s fall ushered in the arrival of Rahul’s State-mate Prasidh Krishna. The debutant had one job to: stay on long enough for Rahul to get to the three-figure mark.  

To the debutant’s credit, he played out eight balls, including an entire Marco Jansen over.  

Rahul, aware that he couldn’t take any more chances, looked for a big hit. He missed out on an upper-cut and then failed to make contact with a pull. 

With one ball left in the over, it was now or never. Rahul then cleared his front foot and made full contact with a length ball from outside off. 

As the ball sailed over the fence, Rahul pranced towards the non-striker's end before casually walking in the direction of the dressing room. 

He punched the air, undid his helmet and soaked in the moment as the entirety of SuperSport Park acknowledged Rahul’s class, versatility, mental fortitude, and his uncanny ability to matter when it matters.

Safe to assume, he’ll be more present the next time he heads to the same pub. Cheers!