Image Credit- Getty
As much of a draw as the fast-paced action on the
pitch on a wicket that favoured the fast bowlers was the Star Sports teaser for
an interview with KL Rahul that aired during the Boxing Day lunch break. Rahul
appeared to be discussing the psychological and emotional toll that criticism
has had on him over time in the teaser. Even though he appeared to be speaking
quietly, his words yet had a raw quality. He once commented, “I couldn’t
get out of my own head.”
On the first day of yet another Rahul comeback, the
highs and lows of batting were clearly visible. Before he discovered the one
man in the deep with his go-to shot, the pull, Rohit Sharma kept out decent
lengths of fielders. His shot had been centred. It would have cleared the
fielder if it had bounced higher in reality, making it theoretically harder to
negotiate. While South Africa’s inexperienced players were having trouble
finding the entire length, Shubman Gill gloved one down the leg side.
When Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli counterattacked,
they were lucky to miss opportunities, but an enraged Kagiso Rabada gave both
of them unplayable deliveries, which has kept South Africa in the game. India
found themselves at 107 for 5, soon to be 121 for 6, despite isolated luck on
an otherwise unfortunate day – missed toss, surprising movement both
horizontally and vertically, the nature of the dismissals.
What a day it was then for Rahul to consent to and
desire to hold wicket in Rishabh Pant’s absence, extending the batting lineup.
It is the only time in his first-class career that he has done this. When
someone is not accustomed to that kind of effort, it takes a tremendous
physical toll, but Rahul would rather the physical toll than the mental one of
sitting out.
Rahul likely made one out-of-the-park error in today’s
105-ball stay for an undefeated 70, responding solely to the odd bounce, the
sideways movement, and the match circumstances. He attempted to hook early in
his innings, intuitively reacting to additional bounce, but he missed by a wide
margin. After that, he played and missed (it is impossible not to in these
circumstances), but he did not make many poor decisions.
Not long after that unsuccessful hook, he was shown
another lifter. This one, however, was not as high; it was at his body. Despite
the fact that the ball was in the proper place, he supported his stroke and
expertly kept it down.
India were quietly optimistic that Rahul had led them
to a respectable total given the circumstances. Rahul will have scored an
incredible six out of eight hundreds outside of Asia if he can somehow add 30
to his score over night. In T20 cricket, he opened with a 14-ball half-century
and, perhaps, had his greatest IPL season ever batting in the middle order. He
has dominated one-day internationals as an opener as well as a middle-order
wicketkeeper-batter. He had to wait 108 balls for his first boundary in England
under many challenging circumstances, but today he struck 12 boundaries in 105
balls.
He is, quite simply, India’s most versatile
batter of his time. He just needs to do it for long enough now. At 31, he has
the time on his side.