KL Rahul, wicketkeeper middle-order batter for India at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup flourished in his role with the bat as he scored 452 runs including a fastest century for his country in the tournament history. Rahul has done well at No.5 in the ODIs as he had no option but to do well given there was no place at the top of the order with first Shikhar Dhawan and then Shubman Gill taking the second opener's role. Now it seems that Rahul is revelling in the middle-order job and wants to expand his horizons beyond ODIs.
As per a Cricbuzz report, Rahul wants to embrace the middle-order role in Test cricket and the IPL as well to bring his T20 international career back on track. The report stated that Rahul is likely to be preferred as wicketkeeper batter for two Test matches in South Africa ahead of Ishan Kishan, who made his debut in the longest format in the Caribbean earlier in July this year.
Rahul will have seven Test matches (if he plays all of them) and a full season of the IPL to prove his worth in the middle order in formats other than ODI. Rahul last played a Test match in February earlier this year when he opened against Australia but was dropped following low scores in three innings. Rahul mustered just 38 runs in three innings and then Shubman Gill took his place.
Similarly in T20Is, Rahul last played in the T20 World Cup 2022 where he had four single-digit scores in six matches while opening the innings. But starting IPL 2024, he will bat in the middle-order, which was on the expected lines after Lucknow Super Giants made a trade of Devdutt Padikkal, who is likely to partner one of Quinton de Kock or Kyle Mayers at the top.
Not just Rahul, the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also haven't played T20Is since last year's T20 World Cup and it seems that IPL 2024 might have a big tole to play in deciding who gets on the plane to the Caribbean and USA for the marquee event next June.
