Rahul’s moment of reckoning in England Premium

K.L. Rahul aims to prove himself as India's senior batter in upcoming England Test series after IPL success.

For the past two-and-a-half months, K.L. Rahul’s primary focus had been on striving to show through the  IPL that he has evolved into a more purposeful T20 batter. Subjected to an avalanche of criticism in recent years for his relatively staid approach in the shortest format, a return of 539 runs in 13 matches at a strike rate of 149.72 this year, his highest since 2018, points to success in that endeavour. That Delhi Capitals flattered to deceive again is another matter.

Barely had the dust settled on a long-drawn-out IPL campaign, though, that the 33-year-old has another point to prove. Which is to show that he can take on the mantle of being India’s senior-most batter when the marquee five-Test series against England gets underway at Headingley on June 20.

It is a monumental responsibility that stares him in the face now that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, with a combined experience of 190 Tests and 13,531 runs, have retired.

To ensure that his preparation is top-notch, Rahul is doing his bit. He dashed to the United Kingdom of his own accord prior to the Test squad’s official departure from Mumbai on June 6. With India-A’s second four-day game against England Lions at Northampton kicking off on that day, he was immediately in the thick of the action, taking guard against a brand new Dukes ball under overcast skies on a grass-laden strip that was difficult to distinguish from the lush outfield.

And he made the most of the precious time in the middle, easing his way to a serene 116 off 168 deliveries on the opening day of the contest. In the second innings as well, Rahul made merry with a brisk half-century.

With Chris Woakes, who is likely to helm England’s pace attack in the opening Test, extracting a fair degree of swing in the first dig, the fallibility of the other top-order batters — namely Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu  Easwaran and Karun Nair — was in marked contrast to the compactness of Rahul.

During the course of his century, which saw him chew up more than four hours at the crease, the opening batter exhibited all the tenets that are of essence to batting in Tests in England. He played late and close to his body, demonstrating astute judgment in letting a vast majority of deliveries outside off-stump pass through to the wicketkeeper.