India opener KL Rahul has enjoyed his stay so far in England. Batting in the opener’s spot, Rahul has scored 2 hundreds in the first 3 Test matches, amassing 375 runs at an average of 62.50. The batter has been able to give his Test career a breath of fresh air, which was left stuttering in the 2022 season.
The renaissance of his Test career has come as part of a larger picture of Rahul’s rebirth in world cricket, following the horrendous aftermath of the ODI World Cup 2023 final loss against Australia. After the world tournament, Rahul was kicked out of his IPL side, and he lost his spot in the T20 team. The Karnataka player was also termed as a player who really could not fulfil his promise in any format of the game.
However, nearly one year later, here we are. Rahul won the Champions Trophy with India in 2025 and has stamped his authority on the opener’s spot in the Test team.
Since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, Rahul has averaged 43.40 in the opener’s spot, much better than his career average of 35 in Test cricket. The batter has amassed 651 runs from 8 matches, including 2 hundreds in England.
No one seems to be more elated than former India head coach Ravi Shastri, with Rahul realising his potential. Speaking on ICC Review, Shastri said that Rahul was batting at his very best and had finally realised his own talent.
“I think there was not one person in the world who denied his potential and said that he [Rahul] was not talented. What annoyed people was, with that kind of talent, he was not delivering. And in this series, you’re seeing the best of Rahul,” Shastri said in the podcast.
KL RAHUL’S TWEAKED TECHNIQUE
Since his snub from the T20 World Cup 2024, Rahul has completely changed his batting approach. The batter showed initiative in the BGT 2024-25 itself, navigating the tall Australian fast bowling attack on spicy pitches. In the Champions Trophy 2025, Rahul played with calculated aggression, finishing off chases in style.
The changes in approach have not gone unnoticed by Shastri, who credited Rahul’s reworked technique behind his rebirth in international cricket.
“What I am seeing is a slight adjustment he’s made with his front foot, in his stance and while defending,” Shastri said.
“It just opened up a bit, which allows his bat to come through cleanly. Even when he’s hitting it towards mid-wicket, it’s the full face of the blade. He doesn’t need to close the face of the blade, and fall over and get into trouble like he used to in the past. He would get out leg before, would get out bowled, he would get across too far and then be out leg before as well,” he added.
“He is sound technically, he has been as good as anyone. Especially, it’s not moved a lot in the series, but when it’s moved, he has had the game to look after that movement,” concluded the former India cricketer.
India will bank on Rahul to score a lot more runs in the final two matches of the series. As Shubman Gill’s India look to overturn the 1-2 deficit in Manchester, Rahul’s output might turn out to be one of the key differentiators.
India play the 4th Test of the series at Old Trafford. The game starts on July 23.
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