Bengaluru: From being panned as a stat-padder, who lacked intent from the word go to being a master of tricky chases, KL Rahul has turned his fortunes around in a manner only a batter blessed with skill-set like him can.
He showed that in his latest unbeaten 93 off 53 balls at a strike-rate of 175 on a gripping Chinnaswamy pitch to fashion Delhi Capitals’s six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Tim David (185) and Phil Salt (210) made runs at a higher strike-rate but through brute force and the readiness to travel on riskier routes either at powerplay or at the death overs.
But Rahul’s fifty was smoothly paced -- from a cautious 29 off 29 balls, the right-hander made the remaining 64 runs off just 24 balls on Thursday. It’s easy to term the innings as a product of his first-hand knowledge of the local conditions as a Karnataka boy. It might have played a part but that is just one chapter of the story.
The Capitals are trying to weave their batting around Rahul, and it is partly because of his technical adaptability.
On Thursday night, Rahul showed DC’s faith in him is not misplaced while taking out a competent set of bowlers.
Even during the sedate initial period, there was no hint of struggle as it was very evident that he had judged the character of the track to the T and was waiting for the right moment to unleash himself.
It came in the 15th over bowled by Josh Hazlewood. Rahul punished the pacer for 22 runs in that over, including three fours and a six.
It decisively swung the momentum in Delhi’s favour, but none of those shots were hit in anger. RCB’s mentor Dinesh Karthik appreciated the way Rahul played his knock, particularly because the 32-year-old is still a floater through the batting line-up in whichever team he plays.
“It’s a very challenging to bat at different positions in T20. But he’s done that really nicely in the recent past. I’ve believed he’s a high-quality middle-order batter. He’s tweaked a bit,” said Karthik.