KL Rahul reinstated as Opener: A masterstroke by India’s selectors in uncertain times – 2,982 Opening runs & 8 Test centuries.
KL Rahul’s career in the whites for India has been start and stop. While he has been in the Test arena for more than a decade now, he is yet to seal to spot for his own and has played only 59 Tests thus far. One reason being is his inconsistency with the bat. After playing 59 Tests, he averages just 34.71, a figure that does provide justice to the talent he possesses.
The other reason is that the team management has not zeroed upon a batting position for this talented batter. Sporadically, he has been made to juggle with his batting slot, where he has batted at No.4 and No.6 for India.
While he hasn’t batted at the other slots more often, the chances given to him at the top order were irregular, especially in recent years due to the presence of the former skipper Rohit Sharma. But since the Border Gavaskar Trophy the Test retirement of latter, Rahul seems to be the prime contender to continue as an opener going forward.
Rahul played at No.6 in the home series against New Zealand that preceded BGT and was made a makeshift opener to replace Rohit in the first Test at Perth. He made 103 runs in the Test, and this pushed the returning Rohit to drop down to No.3 batting order. Rahul amassed 252 runs in the series as an opener in eight innings and then continued his good run at the top by scoring a century in the tour game against England Lions recently.
This probably pipped him above rest to partner with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy (ATT). He immediately made is presence felt by scoring a stroke filled 42 in the first innings before going to hammer his ninth Test century (137) in the second essay of the Leeds Tests.
These impressive returns have all but sealed Rahul’s role as a Test opener, at least for the foreseeable future. The move could be a blessing for Team India who are going through a transition with their Test squad. Following the retirements of several high-profile cricketer, Rahul is now the most experienced batter.
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What makes Rahul a great opening option?
For starters, he is the most technically sound of the India batters currently and innings in the second innings of the Leeds Test showed just that. Rahul batted with assurance for the large part of his stay at the crease, and be it defence or leaves or cover drives, he was rock solid. These are the traits that a team needs from an opener to succeed, and Rahul definitely has that.
Been saying for a year now that Rahul's best phase as a cricketer is ahead of him. I look forward to the next 4 years
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 23, 2025
Next is Rahul has proven himself as a Test opener, especially away from home. Seven of the eight centuries at the top came in overseas conditions, with five coming in difficult SENA conditions. Last but not the least, Rahul has good 3-4 years in front of him and India should utilize his talent wisely.
If the team management is to give consistent chances to Rahul and expect him to contribute consistently, he has to continuously bat at the top of the order.
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