Rahul — the quintessential team player who puts guts over glory Premium

K.L. Rahul, the versatile cricketer, excels in various roles, showcasing composure and adaptability in high-pressure situations.

K.L. Rahul threw his head back, in quasi-disappointment. He had fairly smashed the ball, but he didn’t get either the distance or the elevation he was looking for. As the ball went to deep mid-wicket on the bounce, he grimaced and ran a single. How he would have loved to have made sweeter contact for the ball to sail over the fence!

In the two previous successful chases that he had seen through to their logical end, Rahul had, to borrow a famous line from Ravi Shastri, ‘finished things off in style.’ Against Bangladesh in India’s Champions Trophy opener, he drop-kicked Tanzim Hasan over long-leg. Against Australia in the semifinal, he charged and clattered Glenn Maxwell over long-on. Both sixes, both completing victories he had played a huge role in shaping. A hat-trick of winning sixes, the last of them to win the title, would have been in the fitness of things.

It wasn’t to be, but hey, who cares, right? Rahul was there when the tape was breasted, when the New Zealand tally was overhauled, when the Champions Trophy was clinched. So what if Ravindra Jadeja, another of the unsung heroes, smacked the winning four? So what, really?

If there was a contest for yo-yoing within the Indian ranks, Rahul would triumph by a country mile. He may not want to, but he will, because he has yo-yoed so much within the playing XI that it has become second nature.

Man for all seasons

Want a middle-order wicketkeeper-batter in 50-over cricket? K.L. Rahul. Need someone to reprise a similar role in two away Tests in South Africa, in Rishabh Pant’s absence? KL Rahul. Need a Test No. 4 because Virat Kohli is away on paternity leave? K.L. Rahul. A Test opener because Rohit Sharma is missing? K.L. Rahul. Someone to drop down to No. 6 in ODIs because Axar Patel’s left-handedness is deemed more important? K.L. Rahul. At a stretch, the only thing Rahul hasn’t done in international cricket is keep wicket to his own bowling. Impossible as that is, don’t put it past Rahul being asked to do so. And actually ending up doing it.

Now in his 12th year in international cricket, Rahul has been there and done that. He became the quickest Indian to score a century in all three formats internationally, within 18 months of his maiden appearance for India in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne in December 2014. He has led India in all three formats in a stand-in capacity, he has fulfilled every responsibility thrust on his shoulders, he has shouldered every burden conceivable. He is a veteran of 58 Tests, 85 ODIs and 72 T20Is. And while he might not — or he might, who knows? — entertain that notion, you can’t help feel that few are deemed more dispensable than the 32-year-old from Bengaluru.