In mid of one of the many rain breaks on the second day of the Test, the series’ broadcaster Sony Network ran a split-screen to compare the batting stance of KL Rahul during the 2018 tour of England to the one in the ongoing first Test match.
Bucking the trend of batsmen showing different stances and movements in the batting crease in the frame which shows their current and successful time at the crease, there were no visible changes in Rahul’s stance.
His coach also has reiterated the point that he did not make a lot of changes to his technique following a prolonged snub from India’s Test playing XI.
But, did he really not make any changes to his batting from his last stint with India at the top of the order to the first innings of the Nottingham Test? No, he did make a massive improvement in his batting, but that change came in his mind and ways to play the ball, albeit it could not be shown on the split-screen.
Like all analyses done in hindsight, this piece should also offer a caveat, and hence all of these improvements by Rahul could have produced nothing if he would have been unlucky.
The English bowling attack is capable of producing unplayable deliveries and he could well have been at the receiving end of some of them very early in the innings. In that case, people who are sceptical of his game in the longest format would have started reiterating obituaries of his career. But, the decorated bowling attack erred in their line and length of the attack late on the second day with the new ball and it allowed Rahul some breathing space while returning after a prolonged hiatus.
Coming back to the improvement in mind, what did he do differently than he was doing on the last tour of England, which was a disaster except for the last innings of the series at the Oval?
Rahul was calm at the batting crease and he shed the eagerness to play or push the ball like on the last tour. On that tour, he was taking his bat way too ahead of his pad and the trio of Anderson, Broad, and Chris Woakes made the best advantage of the gap that his eagerness created between bat and pads.
This time though, there was no gap as the right-hander was watchful of the balls and played the majority of them right under his watchful eyes. He played deliveries very late and sometimes so late that he appeared emulating Kane Williamson’s style of leaving and playing the ball.
Go back to the last ball of the 59th over bowled by Stuart Broad when England heard a sound and took a review. The replay showed there was daylight between Rahul’s bat and the ball, but what it highlighted was how watchful he was while taking off his bat from the line of the delivery just at the last moment.
He batted with utmost awareness of his off stump and played with mastery of hiding the bat behind his pads after making a forward press when the balls were bowled close to his off stump.
Anderson, in particular, lured him to many fuller balls outside off stump which could have been despatched to the boundary if he was willing to take the bait. However, he showed immense calm and never lost sight of the big picture and let go of all those half opportunities fraught with risk.
He played as many as 213 balls with control before finally getting lured into playing a drive off Anderson and walked off dejected.
He also conceded that his mind was cluttered with too many thoughts and too many shots for one delivery. Having spent considerable time out of the action in the longest format, Rahul got the time to reflect on his frailties and he has learnt the “control” to bat and become successful against class bowlers in challenging conditions.
"I used to have a lot of thoughts in my mind. I felt I could play two or three different shots for every given ball in red-ball cricket, so that was something I realised, I had to learn to control. Sometimes when the going gets tough or the wickets are challenging, playing against good bowlers when the ball is swinging, you have to hold back some of the shots, so those are the things, I tried to work on, or those were the learnings from when I was failing in Test cricket," he said in a virtual press conference after the end of the third day’s play.
But, did all those leaves outside off stump mean that he completely shut down the door of scoring through the off side. No, he did not do that either and waited ingeniously for his opportunities.
He took a particular liking to Sam Curran and defeated him many times in the battle of eagerness. The left armer was desperate to search for the swing and offered him many deliveries in his half, and Rahul despatched all of them to the boundary to keep the runs flowing from his bat.
In a way, his 84 did showcase a glimpse of both Kane Williamson, when he was leaving the ball just at the late seconds, and Virat Kohli, when he was pouncing on the scoring opportunity when English bowlers offered him half volleys.
Rahul’s career was in dire straits and he could have made his way back into the playing XI only in case if the team management would decide to move on from Ajinkya Rahane or some mishaps occurrence in the side.
After initially going out of favour by the team management, Rahul’s fortunes dwindled further with the emergence of many challengers for the opening slot such as Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal, the man he fortunately replaced in this Test match.
However, his technique and ability were not lost on the team management and they made a choice of trying him in the middle order. They were reluctant to use him at the top of the order even when the team suffered the exclusion of Gill on this tour.
He was not to play this Test if Mohammed Siraj would not have hit Agarwal in his head and concussed him. But as the opportunity came his way to be back at the top of the order, he ensured to remind both the team management and his critics that the Indian batting order is stronger with him in it rather than out of it. He also established why he deserves more chances than others, and that is why it was the right decision by the team management to have him in the mix.
After the innings of 84, he has opened pandora's box of selection for the team management and they have their task cut out to choose one among him and Agarwal for the second Test.
If the team management will follow the past precedents set by Virat Kohli, Agarwal would be back in the team as Ajinkya Rahane once swiftly replaced Karun Nair although the latter had scored a marvellous triple hundred against England. However, Rahane had an upper hand because he was always a certainty of the playing XI while none of Agarwal and Rahul would have been the frontrunners in the first place if Gill would have been fit to play.
The tour can still go awry for Rahul and the last tour of England 2018 serves good enough proof that a five-match series can be reduced to just one good innings. To compound the problems, life has not been easier for openers in England in the recent past and he could well face some tough bowling spells that he won’t be able to survive. However, he has appeared to be a lot calmer in mind and stronger in restraint to promise a strong series with the bat.
He has resurrected his career that appeared to be on the brink of sliding into oblivion, but there are a lot of works remaining to be done if he wants to cement his place back in the playing XI. But for that to happen, at first, the team management will have to throw their weight behind him going forward in the series.