Image Credit- Getty
Someone to pick you up from the side of the road when
your car breaks down, someone to lend an arm after a breakup, someone to help
you transfer your books to a new flat, someone to rant to about your struggles
at work, etc. Call KL Rahul for these and other good deeds of friendship.
Rahul, a player who even at his strokemaking best has
the demeanour of someone producing the loveliest and most considerate support
act, has had that kind of World Cup. In the India vs. England game, Rahul was
stroking his way to a 39 off 58 as the two produced the most significant stand
of the match, with Rohit Sharma taking the lead and taking India from 40 for 3.
Their combined 91 together was more than the scores of England’s top seven
scores combined.
His 27 off 35 against New Zealand had prevented a
possible collapse, and in a brief chase against Pakistan, he scored a perfectly
good 19 not out. He had famously accompanied Virat Kohli in the closing stages
of a chase against Bangladesh. Rahul persuaded Kohli not to take singles off
his own bat when he was getting close to his 48th ODI century and needed just a
few more runs to win the chase. This allowed Kohli to reach his 100th birthday.
Kohli, we’re told, had refused at first. But how could
you say no to Rahul? “I said, I mean it’s not won but still I think we’ll
win quite easily. So if you can get to the milestone, why not? You must try
it,” this is what Rahul told Star Sports soon after the match ended.
“I wasn’t going to run the singles anyway.”
It’s not always enough to simply offer your friends
your support. Sometimes it’s necessary to stress that they need you. Big Guy,
you really did get your hundred in the end? Look? knew you were capable of it.
Rahul, when wearing gloves, has been spectacularly
unmemorable most of the time but extraordinarily spectacular occasionally. The
first was when he dove down leg to make a catch off the inside half of Mehidy
Hasan Miraz’s bat, which had been moving very quickly, with the tips of his
left glove’s webbing. The latter, well, anytime else, devouring the final five
catches that have found their way to him in addition to pulling off a simple
stumping of England.
You can bring up the six byes in the course of six
games or the chance that Daryl Mitchell had to hit a half-century against
Ravindra Jadeja in the 30th over of New Zealand’s innings in Dharamsala.
However, that catch surpassed the reflexes of any save the most exceptional
wicketkeepers.
Rather than focusing on his strengths, Rahul has made
a conscious effort to excel at the less exciting things in life, like staying
low, reading situations, and using his footwork as the cornerstone of his
keeping. If you continue in this manner, you will not often dive, attract
minimal attention, and ultimately land up with the ball inside your mitts.
It goes without saying that Rahul is far more than
just a support player; his innings of 97 not out of 115 against Australia was
one of the early signs of the Indian campaign, which has since snowballed. The
guy’s average this year is actually 74.70, with a strike rate of 84.69—these
are not beta figures. In the Asia Cup, there was also the hundred against
Pakistan.
Nonetheless, Rahul has been exceptionally skilled at
the less noticeable tasks that keep a team going when teammates have taken
centre stage and all that was expected of him was to perform the menial tasks.