Tricky Questions for KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant: Can they keep up?

Rahul seems to always be discussing the constant changes in his position in the batting order. However, this is not the only topic that comes up frequently. The 32-year-old is often asked about the pressure of maintaining his spot in the team, especially with talented wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant waiting in the wings.

Pant these days has to wait for his time in the nets. In India’s Friday evening net session, he was listed to bat in the second round, usually reserved for the reserves or all-rounders. of the regular bowlers would bowl to him. Only the net bowlers, and a bit of Ravindra Jadeja, once he had completed his batting net. Pant consistently took the leather off the ball, tonking it hard and long, leaving journalists and security guards scurrying for cover at the other end of the ground. If an opportunity arises, Pant would come with plenty of pent-up energy.

Rahul answered in the affirmative that he had very little margin for error. “I mean, he’s obviously a very, very talented player and he’s shown all of us what he can do and how aggressive and how quickly he can change the game,” Rahul said about Pant. “So, yes, there’s always the temptation for the team as well, whoever’s the captain, the coach, to either play him or play me.”

“But yeah, if I’m given the opportunity, I try and see what I can do best. I am not trying to compete with Rishabh, I am not trying to play like him.”

Middle order expertise

Currently, Rahul is in the team as his way of playing suits the team more. Runs in the middle order have been hard to come by in Dubai’s slow pitches. There’s been plenty of spin and off-pace bowling on show to slow the run-rate down. Boundaries have been hard, rotating the strike has been crucial.

Rahul has become adept at batting in the middle order, piercing gaps or swinging hard when required. After years of being flexible to bat in any position, he has discovered a role which he does better than others. He played a key hand in easing the pressure at the backend of India’s run chase against Bangladesh with his 47-ball 41 not out.

It’s not a question of this tournament alone. Rahul has grown as a middle-order batter, able to bat in different gears. But he hasn’t got the cutting edge of a Yuvraj Singh or the finishing prowess of a MS Dhoni. He has to constantly strive to excel.

“I might be walking in with eight overs to go, 10 overs to go, 12 overs to go, not more than that. That’s something that I’ve realised in the last six, seven months – I’ve moved from number five to number six, and sometimes at number seven. So, I realised that when I go in that’s something I need to have that skill set to be able to hit sixes, probably from ball one or sometimes be able to play with a really high strike rate,” he said.

Not being able to hit the ground running has been a problem area for him in T20 cricket. It’s seen him lose his place to, who else but Pant, in T20Is. Sanju Samson has also carved his niche as T20 opener.

Rahul, who is not shy of reverse sweeping in net sessions, has made his practice time more meaningful to give himself the chance to be the best version of what he can be. That’s the only way to end the trick questions.

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