From being panned as a stat-padder, who lacked intent from the word go to being a master of tricky chases, KL Rahul has turned the wheels in a manner only a batter blessed with skill-set like him, can. He printed the latest blueprint of his growth chart with an unbeaten 93 off 53 balls at a strike-rate of 175 on a gripping Chinnaswamy pitch to fashion Delhi Capitals’s six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Tim David (185) and Phil Salt (210) made runs at a higher strike-rate but through brute force and the readiness to travel on riskier routes either at Power Play or at the death overs.
But Rahul’s fifty was smoothly paced — from a cautious 29 off 29 balls, the right-hander made the remaining 64 runs off just 24 balls on Thursday. It is easy to term the innings as a product of his first-hand knowledge of the local conditions as a Karnataka boy. It might have played a part but that is just one chapter of the story.
The Capitals are trying to weave their batting around Rahul, and it is partly because of his technical adaptability.
On Thursday night, Rahul showed DC’s faith on him is not misplaced while nullifying a competent set of bowlers.
Even during the sedate initial period, there was no hint of struggle as it was very evident that he had judged the character of the track to the T and was waiting for the right moment to unleash himself.
It came in the 15th over bowled by Josh Hazlewood. Rahul punished the pacer for 22 runs in that over, including three fours and a six. It decisively swung the momentum in Delhi’s favour, but none of those shots were hit in anger.
Even the six that sailed over Hazlewood’s head was the outcome of a beautifully poised open-faced bat, a classic method to reduce the possibility of edges or false shots on such pitches. Just to compare, his top-order colleagues Jake-Fraser McGurk, Faf du Plessis and Abhishek Porel went for cross-batted swipes to get caught as the innate slowness of the surface did not allow them to time the shots well.
RCB’s mentor Dinesh Karthik appreciated the way Rahul played his knock, particularly because the 32-year-old is still a floater through the batting line-up in whichever team he plays.
“It’s a very challenging to bat at different positions in T20. But he is done that really nicely in the recent past. I have believed he is a high-quality middle-order batter. He is tweaked a bit,” said Karthik.
The former wicketkeeper batter noted the “freedom” with which Rahul has been batting of late.
“From whatever I’m hearing, he’s worked with Abhishek Nayar before the IPL started. You can see he’s getting into some good positions and playing some nice shots. “He always had the skill. You can see when he has given himself more freedom and the way he’s played, it’s been nice to watch. May not be from my perspective, though,” he added.
Rahul said his pre-match preparations now include sessions to master different pitches. “I always try to adapt to different wickets (even in practice). It gives me a fair idea of the areas I can target — where I can take singles, where I can hit sixes. I do not keep batting for hours and keep slogging.”
“I do that sometimes but that is when I am not getting into a flow and rhythm. It is more about how I can master playing (on a particular pitch) and that becomes second-nature,” said Rahul.
It showed in the way he played out Suyash Sharma, whose been excellent this season. Knowing that Tristan Stubbs might not be able to read his leg-spin off the wicket or off the hands, Rahul took the task of keeping Suyash in check upon himself.
Rahul faced 13 balls from the 21-year-old spinner, and made just four runs. It was not being merely defensive, but a deliberate ploy to neutralise opposition’s best bowler on the day without any damage.
Rahul knew that a chance would come his way sooner rather than later to accelerate and it indeed came.
However, the most poignant moment came right after he thwacked pacer Yash Dayal for a six to seal the match.
Rahul drew a circle on the ground, and stamped the bat in the centre of it.
“This is my home ground, and I know it better than anyone else,” he would say later.
But that moment also might have symbolised him finally stamping his authority on the white ball formats.
