The 'Nayar' effect, chasing Gavaskar, gaining consistency: 'Wiseman' KL Rahul's most fruitful Test outing, in numbers

New Delhi [India], August 8 (ANI): Indian opener KL Rahul finally delivered a career-defining series fans and experts had been waiting for as he crossed the 500-run mark for the first time in a Test series in the recently-concluded tour of England, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

The tour witnessed a completely new avatar of Rahul. In the absence of legends like Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli, the 31-year-old was no longer someone whose 'potential' was up for debate, just as it had been in the past before every series as if he was some youngster. Rather, the 33-year-old stepped up as an elderly wiseman for the team, serving as a link between the new and old talent. With his monk-like concentration, unreachable defence and crunchy cover drives, KL justified his promotion within the team as a senior player youngsters could look up to.

During the course of the series, KL emerged as the third-highest run-getter, with 532 runs in 10 innings at an average of 53.20, with two centuries and two fifties and a best score of 137. He was India's second-highest run-getter in the series, behind skipper Shubman Gill (754 runs).

KL started off the tour with a brilliant outing in Leeds, scoring 42 and 137. In the first innings, his 91-run stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal and his ruthlessness while driving and cutting the delivery set the tone of the brand of cricket India was going to play, one full of relentlessness, a mixture of old school with some modern-day shotmaking.

Missed Virat Kohli's classy cover drives? KL kept the fans covered with his own, producing a similar crisp and aesthetic that Virat himself would have been be proud of and would lovingly replay on his streaming device in all possibility. It was like a butter knife running through a slice of bread, spreading delightful perfection uninterrupted and smoothly. His late cuts? Never too late to rewind and re-watch those. His pulls could also make people classify them as the 'Shot of the Day'.

In the days of Yashasvi Jaiswal's skyrocketing strike rates and Rishabh Pant's 'falling over' shots and bat slips, KL contrasted with a classic, watchful and orthodox batting technique. As Dinesh Karthik put it on the broadcast, he was the 'classical music' while Pant represented the 'age of hip-hop' music.

During the Leeds Test, he put a brilliant 195-run stand with Pant, crafting one of his finest Test tons when his team was three down for 92 in the second innings, just after England fell short by barely six runs to India's first innings total of 471.

At Birmingham, a cheap score of two in the first innings re-ignited that same fear: KL Rahul had ran out of steam by the time of second Test and it would only be downhill from there. However, with a crucial 55 in 84 balls, with 10 fours, KL put those fears aside to help India set a match-winning total of 608 runs.

It was at Lord's when KL scripted history. Having registered his name at the Lord's Honours Board way back in 2021 with a classy 129 in a winning effort, KL decided to make the cricket's most iconic venue his happy hunting ground once again. With his team 107/3 after England's first innings total of 387 runs, KL's 100 in 177, decorated with 13 fours, drove the team out of troubled waters and made sure that at 387 all out, nothing separated both the teams. He was the fifth wicket down at a score of 254, to a nothing shot which got caught in the slips. But by then, he had joined Indian legend Dilip Vengsarkar to have more than one hundred at 'Home of Cricket'. Vengasarkar had scored a Lord's Test ton thrice.

This turned out to be his fourth ton in England, which is the joint second most by an Indian, with his idol Rahul Dravid at the top with six tons. With these, he also became the Asian and Indian opener with the most centuries in England (three centuries).

However, in another 'typical KL moment', as some of his critics say, he succumbed to pressure yet again. While chasing 193, India had started to crumble at 71/5, with Jofra Archer and skipper Ben Stokes not throwing cricket balls, but metaphorically, fireballs which India had to counter at any cost. One of those magical deliveries by Stokes caught KL plumb at 39 runs, making him the sixth fatality. Team India lost by 22 runs, despite a brilliant show by Ravindra Jadeja and a remarkable supporting role played by tailenders Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, who combined played 84 balls to assist Jadeja. India trailed 1-2.

At Manchester, the series was at stake. Once again, KL laid the foundation with a 94-run opening stand, however, missing out his fifty by four runs. With England posting a massive 669 in reply to India's 358, KL was once again left to pull off a marathon, with his own image (after a series of failures in crunch situations) and the series itself at stake.

While KL escaped Chris Woakes unscathed, who left India 0/2, it was vital to negotiate Jofra's express pace and a relentless skipper in Stokes, who ran, ran and ran, despite pain. With skipper Gill, the wiseman delivered what was expected of him. In every shot, there was pure patience, experience and wisdom he had accumulated all these years. During his 230-ball stay, he was more restrained than ever, scoring a brilliant 90 with eight boundaries. His 188-run stand set a foundation for a brilliant draw. KL had by this time, delivered his best Test outing ever, becoming only the second Asian opener to score 500-plus runs in a Test series in SENA nations (after Sunil Gavaskar's 542 runs during the 1979 England tour).

By this time, 'first Test KL Rahul' was no longer an internet meme.

The final outing at The Oval was statistically poor for KL, as he could score only 14 and 7, missing out on Gavaskar's SENA series record by just 11 runs. Nonetheless, he was only second to Gavaskar in an elite company and could walk out with his head held high as his team drew the series.

Throughout the series, KL chased Gavaskar's spot as the undisputed 'SENApati'. As compared to Gavaskar's 19 fifty-plus totals as an opener in SENA (eight centuries and 11 fifties), he ended it with 12 such scores (six centuries and six fifties). He is also chasing Gavaskar's tally of eight centuries as an opener in SENA nations, currently at second with six. With a New Zealand tour lined-up for next year, KL has his chance to continue the chase.

Rahul also ended the series with 9,000 international runs checked off, having made 9,097 runs in 220 matches and 258 innings at an average of 39.72, with 19 centuries and 59 fifties and a best score of 199.

KL improved his record in England as well, with 1,146 runs in 14 Tests at an average of 40.92, with four centuries and three fifties. His best score was 149.

During the first Test, KL credited former Indian assistant coach Abhishek Nayar for helping out get much calmer in the head.

"I am just getting runs now. There was a time when I was just getting starts, but not converting those to big scores in Tests especially. This stage of cricket I am at, journey I am at, a lot has changed. I am much calmer in my head and not chasing numbers. I am just enjoying my cricket as much as I can," he said on Sky Sports.

"I have worked a lot with him (Nayar), spent a lot of time with him in 15-18 months. I have gone back to basics, doing time. There was a time when I was in a quality over quantity mindset in international cricket and did not hit enough balls. Now I am back to enjoying hitting a lot of balls in the nets," he added.

During the conversation, he also admitted being "hurt a lot" by looking at his batting average. His batting average, which was 33.57 before the tour, saw a significant improvement, as his figures reached 35.41.

This tour turned out to be a happy transformation for KL, who has looked in brilliant touch so far across all formats this year and played a crucial role in the ICC Champions Trophy win with his useful 30s and 40s as a finisher.

The batter admitted that it "hit hard" with seniors not being around, and youngsters coming to him for advice felt weird.

"Once I joined the team, it hit me (Not having the senior players around). To look around and not see them (Rohit, Virat and Ashwin) felt a bit weird. Everyone came to me and asked me about conditions, and that is when it hit me that okay, I have stepped into a different role to help the younger guys and use all the experience and really put my hand up and stand up for this team," he said after the post-match presentation.

Safe to say, with over 500 runs, six crucial catches, the most by an Indian on the tour, KL led by example and lived up to his wiseman tag. The question is, would he be able to keep this purple patch going? (ANI)

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