KL Rahul - One Of The Biggest Enigmas Of Indian Cricket

One of the key references that Dravid, Rohit, and even batting coach Vikram Rathour made when backing Rahul was that he has quality hundreds in challenging conditions overseas...

- Renin Wilben

Talent vs performance is a never-ending debate in sports. Many players seem exceptionally talented but fail to transform their potential into performances. On the contrary, many may not seem very gifted from the outside but have the temperament to perform above their potential. Speaking specifically of cricket - we have Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and AB de Villiers at one end of the spectrum and Rahul Dravid, Justin Langer, and Graeme Smith on the other. KL Rahul has always been earmarked as a talent who can achieve greatness. However, at 30, with almost eight years of international cricket behind him, he has become one of the biggest enigmas of Indian cricket. After starting the one-day series in Bangladesh with 73 in a losing cause, he registered scores of 14 and 8 in the subsequent two ODIs. The right-handed batter led India in injured Rohit Sharma’s absence in the Tests in Bangladesh. After that, however, he had a torrid series, registering scores of 22, 23, 10, and 0. Rahul managed a one-half

century in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka at home. However, in the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he managed scores of merely 20, 17, and 1. These lackluster performances are symptomatic of how Rahul’s career has panned out. Despite his below-par showing, both Team India head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma have thrown their weight behind Rahul, even as former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad has alleged favoritism in team selection. Dravid advised Rahul to trust his process and backed him to come out of the poor phase, even terming the beleaguered cricketer as one of India’s most successful overseas openers. Rohit stated while referring to Rahul that players with potential will get a longer rope.