KL Rahul.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: When Mayank Agarwal celebrated after reaching 150 against Bangladesh during the opening game of the two-Test series in Indore in November 2019, skipper Virat Kohli gestured from the dressing room with a V sign (meaning two by raising index and middle fingers) followed by shadow batting. Kohli, who had an insatiable appetite for ‘daddy hundreds’, wanted Agarwal to make a double century and not be satisfied with what he had gotten.
Agarwal didn’t disappoint his captain, and the moment he touched upon that landmark for a second time in his career, he delightfully responded with the ‘V’ sign. A smiling Kohli then asked Agarwal to go for a triple, but the Karnataka batter couldn’t fulfill that wish, getting out for a superb 243 that earned him his maiden Player of the Match award. Agarwal’s childhood friend KL Rahul may probably want someone like Kohli to remind him a job isn’t necessarily done after completing a century as a big knock, especially when he’s the senior most specialist batter in the side.
After regaining his favoured opening slot from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last year, the elegant Rahul has struck three centuries, but two of them have been exact 100s, with the other being 137. On both those occasions, the 33-year-old looked on course for a big one, but lapses in concentration have resulted in him trudging back to the dressing room in disappointment moments after celebration.
Take the century in the opening Test against the West Indies in Ahmedabad. Rahul was so ecstatic after ending a long wait for his second ton on home soil — his previous one was against England in Chennai in December 2016 — that he drove a nicely tossed-up delivery from Jomel Warrican to Justin Greaves at cover. Rahul, who had the entire lunch session to savour his landmark and refocus, lost concentration to throw away an opportunity to turn it into a big score. The disappointment was evident on his face.
A similar incident happened at Lord’s during the third Test against England. Right after becoming the second Indian to score multiple (two) hundreds at the ‘Home of Cricket’ — Dilip Vengarsarkar has the most with three — Rahul poked hard at a Shoaib Bashir delivery and was out caught at slip. Rahul couldn’t believe what he had done, shaking his head in angst while he trudged back to the dressing room.
In both those innings, Rahul, who has been in excellent form from the start of the England series, was a picture of concentration. He took his time at the start of the innings, trusted his defence, and then slowly started switching gears. It was typical Test match batting from someone who is tailor-made for the format. Unlike his flashy opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul looked extremely composed from the time he took strike and barely appeared like getting out unless he got out. And that’s what happened, which irked Rahul himself.
That’s because Rahul knows now is the time to make up for all the missed chances in a topsy-turvy career that promised a lot but hasn’t reached the expected potential. In 64 Tests, he has managed just 3889 runs with 11 tons and 19 half-centuries for a modest average of 36.00. That's a poor figure for someone as naturally talented and gifted as Rahul. To draw a comparison, spinning all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has batted in the lower order for the majority of his 86 Tests, has 3990 runs at a wonderful average of 38.73. Also, in 11 centuries, Rahul has crossed 150 just twice and has often struggled for consistency until his recent resurgence.
During the England series, Rahul spoke about how he’s been working with mind coaches associated with the Formula One team Red Bull, his sponsors, to enhance his reaction time and improve concentration. “I am closely associated with Red Bull, so I had the opportunity to go there and work with some of the coaches that work with the elite Formula One guys and other adventure sports people who require a lot of this mental side of the game,” said Rahul then.
F1 is one of the most exhausting sports — physically and mentally — with absolutely no room for error. Rahul needs that concentration to turn those hundreds into more significant knocks.