South Africa vs India: KL Rahul stands tall on tough and damp day to ...
The mood of the game fluctuated wildly; the gradients of the sky shifted frequently; the batsmen kept toggling between hope and despair; the bowlers veered from sublime to horrible; the day began and ended with rain.
Amidst the madness around him, KL Rahul batted with surreal sense and sensibility, stroking an unconquered 70 that cleared the gloom in the Indian dressing room, as darkness descended at SuperSport Park. The total — 208 for eight is by no evaluation a safe total, even if one considers the devils in the pitch — but it’s a total that owed much to Rahul’s resistance and firefighting.
It could be the most distinct knock yet of his Test career, when he had to both protect his wicket and throw punches at South Africa’s bowlers on a surface that conspired movement all through the day, despite lengthy interludes of sunshine. Rahul had opened in as many as 75 of his 82 Test innings, five appearances had arrived at three. This was only the second time he strode out to bat at No.6. But he fitted into the role as smoothly as a seasoned jockey on the saddle of an untamed horse, in sync with his selflessness to perform any role his team deputes him to perform. In the last couple of years, Rahul has been India’s greatest multi-tasker, performing a basket of tasks at a high level of competence. It has been about Rahul seizing his breaks, and if he is not among India’s most valuable players yet, he is on his way to become one.
In thrusting him down the order, India might have inadvertently discovered a suitable inheritor to VVS Laxman. Like Rahul, his predecessor was a top-order batsman. But the top-order slots were occupied so he was thrust to fill up in the middle order for most of his career. But from there, he forged a splendid career as the ultimate utilitarian artiste.
Rahul’s Centurion knock — an antithesis to his century as the stonewalling opener in his previous visit to this venue — was Laxman-like in rendition. In the calmness he breathed; in the callousness he displayed in dispatching the semi-bad balls to the fence, and the coolness he demonstrated in throwing counter-punches. Rahul prospered in this role because he not only has the skills and adaptability, but also the willpower and personality too.
In white-ball formats, he is no stranger to middle-order duties. But Test cricket is a different beast. The grey skies gazed sinisterly at him when he strode in. Kagiso Rabada was bowling with inspired perfection. He had nipped out Shreyas Iyer, and 11 balls later, Rahul would see the masterful bowler devour Virat Kohli too.
The sun peeped in from the skies. But Rahul’s support was thinning. He himself had not played a Test for 10 months. From 92 for three, India slipped to 121 for six. A familiar first-day meltdown loomed. South Africa seemed to escape with their largely shoddy bowling, barring the inscrutable Rabada.
But in adversity, Rahul sensed an opportunity. Tough runs are remembered more than fair-weather ones. In such situations, batsmen are prone to embracing two contrasting routes, either to grind down the opposition or counterattack. To strike a middle path requires courage and conviction; Rahul showed both.
Contest within a contest
His duel with Rabada was thrilling stuff. He left the first three balls alone. Rabada pinged a short one. Rahul tried to hook, and missed. Rabada grimaced; Rahul wore no expression. The South African went full; he punched languidly back at him. Rabada reverted to the hard length; Rahul gently shouldered arms.
SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium, Centurion, South Africa – December 26, 2023 India’s KL Rahul in action. (REUTERS)
Part of what makes Rabada difficult to deal with is his mastery of different lengths. He lays his snares wisely, his plans hard to guess. The batsman cannot premeditate a particular stroke. Most would have thought that he would hit a full length. He didn’t. Instead, it was a vicious short ball, searing into his chest. Rahul did not blink; he swivel-pulled and hooked him for the first of his 10 fours. It was not a reckless, impulsive pull that Rohit Sharma got out playing, but controlled, his roll of the wrists keeping it along the ground, a stroke of supremacy. Rabada plugged away, but Rahul repelled him into submission. He would unpack the pull again several times in his knock.
The rest posed a different challenge. Most often, Rabada’s accomplices were erratic with their lengths. But Rahul could not relax because suddenly they would unzip a pearler from nowhere. A Nandre Burger short ball ricocheted off his forearm to the grille of the helmet. A faint inside edge saved him from being LBW off Marco Jansen. But every time they erred, even slightly, Rahul punished them, gradually taking the game away from them.
The stroke-making was utmost cultured. Anything full was caressed through covers if closer to the stumps or square-driven when slightly wide. The square drive in Rabada’s final spell of the day was divine. He was not averse to lofting through the off-side either, getting under the ball rather than looking to hit on the rise. He lifted Jansen over extra-cover for the first of his two sixes, before he thumped Burger over cover.
If one rewatches some of Sachin Tendulkar’s masterpieces in South Africa, one would notice the same, a lot of aerial strokes. The success was in him not trying to over-hit, or manufacturing shots, but summoning them only when the opportunity arrived. The fundamentals remained intact — still head, balanced body, hands close to the body, trimmed trigger movement and a low backlift.
In Shardul Thakur, Rahul found a partner with courage. He wouldn’t just hang around, but land blows too. The pair combined 43 runs that could be vital. Thakur’s departure necessitated risk-taking. Rahul fleeced Gerard Coetzee for a pair of fours, before he scythed Jansen past gully. A ball later, the rain began to pound and gloom engulfed the arena. But if India did not feel drenched at the end of the day, it was because of Rahul, the warm blanket of India’s hope on a largely dark and damp day.
