KL Rahul and Virat Kohli combined in Chennai to turn an almighty collapse into a batting masterclass. Aadya Sharma, at the venue, writes on Rahul, no more the chasing apprentice.
For all the chase-mastery that Virat Kohli is celebrated for, winning in Chennai required subtracting most of the virtues that make his batting legendary.
There was no early burst, no crazy running between the wickets, no sudden acceleration at the death. It was a series of small victories, 35 odd overs. I had to keep my head down and avoid looking at the bowler’s face. Instead of sneering at the bat, he needed to smile when he missed the outside edge.
The anomalous degram was the product of unusual circumstances. 2 overs, 3 wickets, 2 runs, maiden. In India’s long history of ODIs, he has never lost 3 wickets for less runs than India.
The Chepauk Stadium was nearly full and, although often accustomed to winning, there was no calm at all. No team has ever won an ODI match in him that reached this score.
Four 50+ scores in seven innings since his comeback from injury ๐#KLRahul #India #INDvsAUS #Cricket #ODIs #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/CG5NoCdZXN
โ Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) 8. 2023 ๅนด 10 ๆ
Mastering tracking is not a one-person job, even for Kohli and his all-powerful troops. In fact, he wasn’t even the main character in the end.
Joining him was KL Rahul, who was making a comeback after the most chaotic career ever. His childhood coach Samuel Jayaraj believes Rahul was born to thrive. But after years of discovery and rediscovery, Rahul found his ODI calling at number five.
“He always came to bat early and never came out of the nets,” Jayaraj told Wisden India last year. “Even if he said ‘his last three,’ it would be his last three.”
That was the fundamental quality that became the essence of Rahul’s batting in Chennai. There was no pressure to run faster, no pressure to hit harder, and no room for practical jokes. To deal with robots like Josh Hazlewood, who throws balls with overwhelming precision and perfect seam positioning, you have to become a robot yourself.
“We just have to play the right shots, play like Test cricket for a while and see what happens,” Kohli told Rahul while making his entrance.
In the first few overs, Kohli and Rahul lost interest in scoring runs. The storm had to pass. After a moment of silence, Rahul’s bat fired the first shot. It was a pretty clean drive from the commander-in-chief. The run was still wide and small.
The decisive moment came when Kohli was dazzled by the Hazlewood specialist and the ball flew past his swinging bat. A few minutes later, Kohli limped off his feet and delivered his deafening drive. The sound echoed in the ears of thousands of people in Chepauk, and many others in front of the screen. It wasn’t an explanation or atonement or anything. It was just the story of the day. It’s about playing something or missing out on some things.
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A dead bat, dry strike and near miss were highlights of the first power play. And oh yeah, it was a nearly disappointing dropped catch. No one is nervous so far. Three overs later, Rahul simply pushed Cummins’ delivery to the boundary. Even if his shot slumps, he can time the ball like a dream.
The spin came first from Glenn Maxwell, who Hazlewood proclaimed after the game as his “first-line spinner”, and then from Adam Zampa, who is considered the trump card in Australia’s World Cup plans.
This is where Rahul’s talent shined. He used the crease brilliantly, cutting the ball as it danced and spun at various depths. It was almost too dangerous. The cut came as late as it could be played, but Rahul caught the short cut early on. Zampa’s brilliant first over took away 13 runs from him, the most he has scored in an innings so far.
For the next few hours, Kohli and Rahul remained on autopilot. With the early damage neutralized, Kohli played his usual chaser role, while Rahul looked the more comfortable of the two. Kohli dropped early, was hit on the helmet by his bouncer and narrowly missed the outside edge at least three times. Rahul was sensitive to all the ups and downs of his team and felt like he had a slight lead in class in the second half.
This was another example of Rahul’s recent tracking pattern. His bat slowed down and he scored more points. As his second place this year, he recorded a batting average of 123.66 and a strike rate of 75.56. In comparison, he had a batting average of 51.4 and a strike rate of 109.4.
Yes, the surface behaved better in the light than the Australian and the dew was more noticeable, but it was still a big challenge. It was the opening game of a home World Cup against a team with five players at home.
On a personal level, it was much more important to Rahul. Here was a player who hadn’t played a single game of cricket from May to September because of a severe tendon tear that tore his quadriceps. India’s reigning number five and key wicketkeeper inspired hope across the nation.
During his recovery, Rahul’s biggest fear had nothing to do with batting. In his own words, he worried that his quadriceps would never be strong enough to endure the countless squats required of him as a turnstile keeper. . His return was further tested at the Asian Cup, when he missed two games to deal with new issues.
When he picked up his forearm in Chennai around Matchday 36, one would have wondered what new injury he had picked up. But it was just a cramp and the hot and humid afternoon caused him to hang on for almost 50 overs before emerging after 12 balls and batting another 40 in the humid air. He passed the physical fitness test. The same goes for impact tests.
A century against Pakistan in the Asia Cup and almost a century against Australia in the World Cup are two key points in Rahul’s ODI achievement list. For someone who has often played without a fixed position and has often been dropped, pushed around, and criticized, Chepauk’s tap was a moment in time when he put his fingers in his ears and closed his eyes. It was a physical expression of the celebration he was enjoying. There is no time to listen to outside noise.
Open it, Rahul. I have nothing but praise now. And all said and done, India’s hunting burden in ODIs could simply have been shared in Chennai as well. There are no more trainees.
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