India vs Australia, 2nd Test: Mix of tradition and modernity ticks KL Rahul’s mind

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Someone should playback Rahul’s video to the other batsmen and ask them to focus on one aspect in particular – how upright his stance was and how he got his hands higher than the rest. The rest were pushing with such low hands on a track which made over-spun deliveries bounce that they would all jerk up in panic, making it seem as if it bounced more than it actually did.

Rahul is a batsman whose troubles come when he over-extends himself. Rather when he indulges in stuff he doesn’t need to. The core of his batting is so compact and equipped to handle anything thrown at him but he has these little urges that nudge him into awkward situations. A wish to paddle and sweep over the backward short-leg fielder, the desire to square drive away from the body, the basic urge to constantly feel for the ball. It was absolutely fascinating to see a young batsman like Rahul trying to find about himself.

Australians have figured out the three areas to target him. 1) Full and a touch wide outside off. 2) Short deliveries on the ribcage/body area. 3) Play on his urge to predetermine against spinners. They tried; he was better.

Unlike the other Indians, barring Karun Nair who has such lovely hands that made him the best batsman out there, Rahul used the crease well against the spinners – forward and back. He doesn’t have a big back-press like say Rahul Dravid but not many modern-day batsmen possess that skill. Rahul was more minimal but the one area where he stood out from the rest was how decisive he was in making those movements.

It was obvious what Lyon was trying to do—over-spin the ball in and let the bounce and turn do their bit to mentally disintegrate the batsmen before the eventual panic-mistake would arrive.

It’s easier to give you the right picture by describing what Rahul didn’t do. He didn’t lunge out, he didn’t hurry back desperately, he didn’t go hard at the ball, he didn’t go across the line, and he didn’t push his hands out low.

All those helped him cope with whatever Lyon sent at him. If anything, he had more problems with Steve O’Keefe in a short little phase in the afternoon. Wary of trapped lbw against the ball coming in with the angle, he sought not to press his front foot across. O’Keefe hung the ball out wider, making him wait for the armer, and in the meanwhile chase the ball away from the body. It didn’t last long as Rahul tightened up and got his feet positions right and the O’Keefe threat evaporated.

More arms than wrists

There was just one area where his batting technique got him into trouble. He is one of those batsmen who are more arms than wrists if you get the idea. And he likes staying in the side-on position which means he can get locked when the ball is at his body. The combination of the arms and side-on got him into a few tetchy phases against Starc. Time and again, Starc pounded in the bouncer at the body and Rahul would get locked and those arms meant he had to wriggle and twist and end up stabbing the ball. Sometimes the ball popped short of short-leg and once lobbed just short of square-leg.

He doesn’t flick; he turns them away to the leg side. He doesn’t glance, he works the ball down to fine-leg. And so it was interesting to see how he tackled Lyon with backward short-leg and short-leg in place. And the ball bouncing. Here is where the upright stance kicked into gear. It allowed him to come down on the ball and keep it down short of waiting palms. Eventually, Lyon started to get it to turn in from outside off but Rahul was adept with his soft-hands and decisive footwork.

It was those urges that could have got him. Starc and Josh Hazlewood slipped in a few full deliveries away from the body and he chased them. Once or twice he edged them to his pad but managed to escape those moments. The variable bounce almost had him when he was on 27. He chipped down the track to O’Keefe but the ball didn’t come on as quickly as he expected, and he ended up reaching out to drive but it was spilled at short cover by Peter Handscombe who lunged to his left.

Then there were those self-destructive impulses against the spinners. Suddenly, despite the backward short-leg feilder, he would shuffle across and try the paddle. David Warner spilled a sharp chance once on 61 and after that Rahul settled down admirably. The shoulder problems that we saw in Pune came back to get him here. He yelped in pain after trying an inside-out cover drive and not long after, with just two wickets left, he went for a get-me-out or get-me-to-hundred quickly shot. He lunged out and tried to crash-lift a Lyon delivery on a length but could only lob it to mid-off.

He might have missed out his hundred but it was a knock that should in theory take Rahul to the next level. Self-awareness about the destructive urges should have increased, confidence in tackling spin would have escalated, and the ability to be positive would have strengthened. His longevity and consistency would depend on whether he can learn to curb those impulses. And more importantly in the here and now, would the other batsmen get inspired by his knock and make those little tweaks in their game?