KL Rahul: The Underrated Star Who Continues to Shine:

India had other ‘stars’ and then there was KL Rahul— not very celebrated, often criticized and in many ways, a maligned figure, which is the epitome of the word troll. As Rohit Sharma would later say, “Champions Trophy would have never happened without everyone doing their job,” and if Rahul had to be individually highlighted for the most underappreciated contribution, it would have been this. He was rugged, but confident in knowing that his game could calm many a storm fires in tough matches.

In the much tense semifinal against Australia, he told Kohli that one of the ends will need to be protected and that he would take all the risks in every over to make Kohli stay at that end. As it turns out, an otherwise placid and composed batter like Kohli lost control and threw his wicket away to a very silly shot. Using two gigantic shots, Pandya came and released some of the pressure. In the midst of the discomfort, Rahul had the foresight to block an end off and most importantly, stayed until the end.

The final match was on the verge of spiraling out of control once again when Axar, intentionally trying to hit the ball, pulled it to long-off, putting the team in a difficult position. Once again, Rahul stepped up to the challenge, scoring 34 not out. Despite the unfortunate situation, he was able to hit a few important big shots that ensured the fuel did not surpass the flame. Without a doubt, Rahul singlehandedly steered the ship away from disastrous, if not completely catastrophic, collapse. He was the embodiment of peace, sensibility, and determination. It was indeed a blessing for India that Rahul had the composure and was composed during such critical circumstances. Such skill is rare to come by, especially paired with the required attitude.

Rohit did well to recognize Rahul's importance to the team and appreciated his assistance in their victory. And I'm very very happy with how he has managed to pull this tournament is bat in pressure situations, both in semifinals and this game as well. “KL obviously has been doing a lot of challenging work for the for the team for so many years now,” added skipper. “The contribution may not be 70-80, but those 30-40s are greatly important.”

“When applying pressure, it can be hard work if you're running from the back. It can be troublesome, for sure, but with KL being there, we know that calm has a system, and he keeps the dressing room very calm, so I’m so pleased with the way he has managed this tournament and very happy with you to know the contributions that he made for the team.” Incredibly, after more than a decade in international cricket, this was the first ICC trophy for Rahul. He scored 41 (against Bangladesh), 23 (against New Zealand), 42 (against Australia in the semi-final) and 34 (against New Zealand in the finals) in the five games he batted in the tournament. This brought his total across the tournament to 140, and although he had three not out innings, he didn't make a single half-century.

""In cricket, your ability to serve the team’s needs is key, think of it as needing to ausmetricing and accepting various roles,” said Rahul about his contribution in the lower middle order. He added, “Any team sport’s performance is largely dependent on individual performers as well; and when it comes to an opener in the sport of cricket, I must say, it's quite liberating.” This was encouraging with regard to his broader view on tactics. "These victories are not that simple to snatch. This is the first one for me so I am elated….even take a step further towards the galactic moon." Rahul remarks after ICC, “This is also not just one man’s or two men’s show. It takes a number of people to step out and perform when the challenge comes. Personally speaking, this is my A or B reason why results came and am proud to say we had such endings.”"

Being a few days away from the ICC finals, his coach informed Rahul to start warming up to some practices. He showed up to the ICC academy about an hour before his teammates arrived. Instead of going through long team exercises, he preferred doing anaerobic stationed activities. By the time he was ready to head to the batting nets, he spent some time alone on the field and went through a range of warm up exercises and batting drills. He was fully aware that his turn to hit came at the end of the innings and to prep for that, he set his mind and practiced with the old ball. During the knockout rounds, there were a few innings where he made 42 and 34 runs which were match winning payments in his eyes.

“Rahul practices mentally before any skill based work. He explained that thinking about what skills you need for a situation and preparing is equally as important if not more than watching a game. Observation of different players is key to success. For instance, if he admires a number 6, he studies their success and works to replicate that while adding his personal touch."