After being the full-time number 5 in ODIs, KL Rahul has widened his areas of range as middle-order batting. Since 2020, his average in that position stands at 61.52, a total that none of the rest can match: Heinrich Klaasen comes in second and is almost seven points behind. However, with the Champions Trophy approaching, India wants to have that variation in their right-handed-heavy batting order, and so they have elevated Axar Patel to the No. 5 position. As a result, Rahul has gone down one place to No. 6, but he has adapted quickly and spent a lot of time working on hitting for distance.
“Yeah, I do [enjoy batting at the top]; I mean, I won’t lie,” Rahul is quoted as saying in an interview with Star Sports, according to ESPNcricinfo.
“It’s after opening the batting in Australia in Test cricket and having to face that Australian attack in such conditions, wherein you know how much harder Test [matches] are to play. I opened there and then came here to bat lower, which feels a bit different, but such is how I have played white-ball cricket of the last four-five years,” he added.
“As such, I’m pretty used to moving up and down the order, and I am happy getting a chance to play in the middle. Along with whatever roles are assigned, I think this has really helped me understand my game better. I had to devote a lot of efforts toward clearing the boundary last year or so because the last ODI we played in Sri Lanka, I batted at No. 6. Thus I knew this would have been my batting spot and we would need a left-hander in the top order,” he said.
There was a debate whether Rahul or Rishabh Pant should fit into the keeper-batter role before the Champions Trophy. In the end, the team stuck with Rahul. He walked in after Axar’s dismissal on Tuesday with India needing 86 in 15 with six wickets in hand on a difficult Dubai strip. The Australians must have thought they had an opening when Kohli got out for 84, but there was Rahul, sealing it with an unbeaten 42 off 34 balls, hitting two fours and two sixes and sweeping India into the final. Being questioned on uncertainty regarding his position, Rahul reflected about how he was in this situation.
“Honestly, I mean that’s a long time since I think 2020 I’ve batted at No. 5, and much of the time people forget that that’s where I’ve been batting,” Rahul said, quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
“And after series where I’ve performed, there is always a break and then when we resume series after four or five months there’s a question mark people ask about will he feature in the XI, where does he fit” and sometimes I’m sitting there thinking ‘what more can I do?’ Everywhere that I’ve been asked to play I’ve played, and I think I have performed my role. Whatever has been asked from me by Rohit, Rohit has been the captain for the last four-five years, he added.