KL Rahul celebrates after hitting the winning runs against Australia in the Champions Trophy semi-final on Tuesday. (Reuters)Despite establishing himself as one of the most consistent ODI batters at No. 5 and taking up the wicket-keeping gloves regularly since 2020, KL Rahul’s role in the spot has often been scrutinised.
Dropped a rung lower to No. 6 in the Champions Trophy, with left-hander Axar Patel promoted up the order, Rahul applied his wares adeptly on Tuesday in the semi-final against Australia. The 32-year-old befittingly hit the winning runs, smashing Glenn Maxwell for a six over long-on in the penultimate over to seal a 265-run chase and a four-wicket victory for India to reach their fifth Champions Trophy final and a third in successio.
“Yeah, I do [enjoy batting at the top], I mean I won’t lie,” Rahul told Star Sports after the game. “It’s after opening the batting in Australia in Test matches and having to face that attack in Australia and you know how red-ball [cricket] is much harder. I opened the batting there and then to come here and bat low seems a bit different, but this is how I’ve played white-ball cricket in the last four-five years.
“So, I’m quite used to going up and down the order so I’m just happy getting a chance to play in the middle and whatever role is given, I think it’s really helped me understand my game a lot more and I’ve had to work on boundary hitting a lot more in the last year or so because the last ODI we played in Sri Lanka I batted at No. 6, so I knew that’s where I’ll be batting and [we] needed a left-hander in the top order.”
KL RAHUL FINISHES OFF IN STYLE!!!!! 🇮🇳
What a moment, what a win as #TeamIndia qualify for the #ChampionsTrophy final for the 5th time! 👏#ChampionsTrophyOnJioStar FINAL 👉 SUN, 9th March, 1:30 PM on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 2 & Sports18-1!
📺📱 Start… pic.twitter.com/ymcT8TwJdA
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 4, 2025
Rahul admitted that he could not help but wonder what more could he have done to cement a stable position in the middle-order over the last few years. Since 2020, Rahul is one of five ODI batters to aggregate at least 1000 runs at No. 5, with the Karnataka batter’s 58.72 average ranking the highest. The runs have come at a decent clip too with Rahul striking at 96.41, only bettered by South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen (126.11).
“Honestly, I mean it’s since 2020 I’ve batted at No.5 and a lot of times people forget that that’s where I’ve been batting,” Rahul said. “And every time I perform in a series and then there’s a break from ODI series, ODI cricket and then we come back after four or five months there’s a question mark again about, ‘oh well will he play in the XI, where does he fit?’ and sometimes I’m sitting there thinking what more can I do. Everywhere that I’ve been asked to play I’ve played and I feel like I have performed my role,” remarked Rahul.
Rahul, however, acknowledged captain Rohit Sharma who has backed him as the lead wicket-keeper in the format. “Whatever’s been told to me by Rohit, Rohit’s been the captain for the last four-five years. And whatever he’s told me I feel like I’ve done that to the best of my ability. And I know that Rohit feels the same and he’s always supported me and backed me with that. So, there’s that confidence going into game that the captain has my back.”
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