Since his return, Indian wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul has been on fire. Rahul, who is usually seen at the top of the order, is flourishing in the middle-order role in ODIs and if his record at No.5 wasn't enough for people to believe, his run-scoring form since his return from the injury has been nothing short of outstanding. India's World Cup 2023 opener against Australia on Sunday, October 8 in Chennai was another example of Rahul's improvement as a middle-order and the edge that it gives the Indian team with the presence of a batter like him, who can play on both gears.
Rahul walked in at 2/3 and even though the target was only 200, the runs still needed to be made and India were in desperate need of a partnership. So Rahul joined the chase master Virat Kohli and both played out 10-12 overs to bring the team to safer shores before playing the way they wanted to. And the result? The duo ended up stitching a 165-run stand which guided India to a 6-wicket win and a run chase with 52 balls left.
Both missed their century, Kohli because he got out on 85 and Rahul because he timed his shot too well as what he intended to be a four, ended up being a six. However, Rahul remained unbeaten on 97 and India had two points in the bag against the five-time champions.
Speaking after the match, Rahul revealed that he had a Kapil Dev moment as he had just gone back from a shower having kept for 50 overs in Chennai heat and was ready to relax for some time but he found himself back on the field in the third over of India's batting innings.
When asked about the conversation between him and Kohli when he got in the middle, Rahul said, "Quite honestly, not a lot of conversation. I was just trying to catch my breath as I just had a shower. I thought I would get a good half an hour - [or] an hour's - break, put the feet up and just rest up. But I was out there in no time, so there was a bit of rush. I was just trying to get my breath back."
Rahul said that playing Test match cricket for some time was the way to go before turning on the gears and was glad that they could do what they did. "Virat said there's big help in the wicket, and [we] just have to play proper shots and play like it's Test cricket for some time and see where it goes. That was mostly the plan, and happy that we could do the job for the team," he added.
