CHENNAI: KL Rahul, the Test cricketer, can be hard to make sense of. As much as it is the same in the other two formats of the game, in Tests, Rahul is an anomaly for Indian cricket.
It is no exaggeration. A Test average of 33.87 after 53 matches, which does rounds on social media every time he fails, is unheard of for an Indian specialist batter. To put it into context, among players with 50 or more Test caps, Ravindra Jadeja has a better average than Rahul (35.16). In fact, apart from Kapil Dev (31.05), Syed Kirmani (27.04) and R Ashwin (25.92) who follow Rahul on the list, everyone beneath him have been picked for one specific skill set (bowling). Any other cricketer with such numbers would be nowhere near the national set-up.
Rahul, however, is not any other cricketer. He is special. Right from the time he broke into the Indian team in 2014 and scored a Test hundred in Sydney, it has been the case. Since then, India has had six captains, including Rahul himself, six coaching tenures (five coaches with Ravi Shastri donning the hat twice) and multiple selection committees. Through all this, no matter who's captain or the coach or chief selector, one thing has remained constant — his place in the side, if fit.
So much so that at times it might have left the ones looking on from the outside frustrated, wondering why that is the case. The outsiders may have a point because Rahul's numbers are middling at best. And yet, Rahul is always around. Sometimes even when he is not in form, he was their fallback when Shubman Gill got injured in England. He was there when India needed a middle-order bat. He was also there when they wanted a keeper in South Africa. He has been India's go-to fix for every temporary issue they have had over the last few years.
Even now, with captain Rohit Sharma likely to miss the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, they have gone back to Rahul as the preferred opener in Perth. "There are times when you go with the experienced players as well and that is the quality of the man. He (Rahul) can actually bat at the top of the order, he can bat at number 3 and at number 6 as well," explained coach Gautam Gambhir before leaving for Australia. "I feel that if need be, I think he (Rahul) can do the job for us, especially if Rohit is not available for the first Test," he added.
As much as one would be made to believe that no batter has got the backing Rahul has in the last decade or so — and it is true to an extent — things might look different if one were to view it through the 32-year-old's prism. To not be able to seal one spot and become the guy for the team despite playing more than 50 Tests can never be easy. This despite him being the only Indian opener to score Test hundreds in England, Australia and South Africa since the rainbow nation returned to international cricket.
Then there is the rotten luck that has followed him in the worst of times. Take the dismissal in Melbourne during the second unofficial Test between India A and Australia A. It is an indication of a guy who is not just out of form but also lacks confidence.
However, Rahul is indeed an anomaly. He could come in and put on a match-winning performance as he did during the England tour in 2021. That year was, perhaps, the best Rahul had as an opener — both in England and South Africa. He knew where his off-stump was and left balls outside better than anyone else. Or he could fall flat and warm the bench till India have their next temporary issue for Rahul to come back in. This is not an ideal situation for any one. But Rahul doesn't do easy. He is an anomaly that Indian cricket turns to whenever in need.
Come November 22, the world will know which Rahul has turned up for India.