KL Rahul as skipper: A remarkable turnaround
The last time Rahul was in South Africa, in 2018, it marked the beginning of the worst phase of his career. Six months since a lucky break gave him a second chance, he has risen swiftly to the top
When KL Rahul was last in South Africa, with the Indian Test team in 2018, little did he know that it would mark the beginning of the toughest phase of his career. In four innings, his sequence of runs read: 10, 4, 0 and 16. It was the first time Rahul had met with failure. Till then, if he wasn't crafting centuries, he was hitting fifties--he had six of those in seven innings against Australia at home in 2017.
But South Africa, 2018, broke him. Later that year, his Test average having dropped from nearly 50 to just over 20, Rahul lost his place in the playing XI during the tour of Australia.
From there to assuming leadership of the team in the absence of injured captain Virat Kohli in the 2nd Test on the tour of South Africa, is testament to a remarkable turnaround in Rahul's fortunes. All of it, in the space of six months, and only because he got, deservedly, a lucky break after a couple of injuries left the opener's spot vacant.
The ongoing Test in Johannesburg is just Rahul's sixth match after he got his break in the first Test of the 2021 tour of England and responded with a flood of runs. For the tour of South Africa, with Rohit Sharma ruled out with an injury, Rahul was named vice captain. On the morning of the second Test, with Kohli down with a back spasm, Rahul had the honour of captaining for the first time in a Test.
In complete contrast to how he had started his last tour, the opener has been the standout batsman in the ongoing series so far, beginning with a match-winning hundred at Centurion last week. He followed it with a watchful half-century on Monday.
Earmarked as a future captain early in his career, a couple of days ago the national selection committee had also appointed him captain of the ODI series against South Africa in Sharma's continuing absence.
While announcing the 50-overs squad on Friday, chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma declared that Rahul was being groomed as future captain.
"Yes, definitely we are looking at KL Rahul at the moment (as a leader)," Sharma said. "He is an all-format player and he's got good experience of captaincy. He has proved his leadership quality, this is what all selectors think. And Rohit is not fit, we thought KL will be the best one to handle the side. That's why we have shown confidence in him. We are grooming the side."
Almost written off as a Test player following a tumultuous series of failures in the last three seasons, Rahul had only got a chance in the playing XI against England at Trent Bridge because of injuries to first-choice opener Shubman Gill and then to back-up opener Mayank Agarwal. He scored a match-winning hundred (129) in the second Test at Lord’s after a solid 84 in the first Test. The 123 at Centurion was similar to his effort at Lord's, anchoring the innings in a 260-ball vigil to help India to 327.
It was a tough first day as captain for Rahul, though. Even as he dug in, he saw his teammates falling regularly at the other end. While the selectors are ready to invest in grooming him, these are early days to judge how he will hold up to the extra responsibility. So far, the only sizeable experience he has had in the saddle is with Indian Premier League side Punjab Kings.
Originally Kohli's understudy both in the Indian set up as well as at Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rahul got his chance to come out of the charismatic skipper's shadow when he joined Punjab Kings.
There’s no team in the IPL that has suffered more heartbreaks in terms of close defeats than Kings in the last couple of seasons but each time Rahul has maintained his equilibrium. He didn’t let the pressure get to him as captain. He was the third highest run-getter with 626 runs in 2021 after topping the charts in 2020 with 670 runs.
Former India chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar is among those who see a clear leader in the Karnataka opener.
“KL Rahul is an excellent batsman. He should be groomed to be the future India captain,” Vengsarkar said. “He has a cool demeanour, doesn’t get ruffled and as a batsman he can only improve and do better. He likes to lead from the front, is a versatile player, who can adapt to different positions and plays all three formats."
In South Africa, Rahul's career has come a full circle.
