KL Rahul has always had the urge to bat freely. He has all the shots in the book and, in a pinch, is capable of inventing some new ones. All those abilities were shown in Punjab Kings' IPL 2021 final when Rahul scored 98* off just 42 balls in his team's six-wicket win. So why does he always insist on batting within himself?
"I think if I play the way I want to, I can let the team down."
Ever since he was named the captain of the Punjab franchise, Rahul has been a quiet presence at the top of the order. This extra responsibility may play a part in their throttling, and so can a middle order that isn't really a mainstay.
Whatever method he uses, the runes continue to flow.
In 2018, when he broke the record for the fastest half-century in IPL history, he finished as the third-highest run-scorer of the tournament with a strike rate of 158. In 2019, he was second with a strike rate of 135. In 2020, he finally claimed the Orange Cap but the strike rate came down to 129.
Rahul seems to have found a better balance this season, with his 626 runs - leading the charts right now - coming in at a strike rate of 139. The top attack was the need of the hour on Thursday after Chennai Super Kings were limited to 134 on Thursday. Good batting pitch.
"We wanted to score it before 14 overs [to stay in the race for the playoffs]," Rahul said in the presentation. "Today was one of those days where I could hit every ball. [I] had complete clarity of what I wanted to do. There was no better feeling than hitting the ball through the middle of the bat."
There were many great hits in Rahul's innings. Not the least of which was the one he wore on his body. A Josh Hazlewood bouncer left a hit on the batsman's forehead, but he shook it off too quickly and went into the fast bowler, taking it to 4, 4, 0 and 6 and setting the tone for an almost flawless innings.
The Kings captain scored a fifty off 25 balls and was close to a century even after chasing a small target.
Teammate Aiden Markram said after the match, 'I don't think these innings come again and again in this world. "He needs to enjoy it. He did something special tonight. Hope he appreciates it. This team, behind the scenes, has gone mad after every shot as you can imagine. Watching this is incredible."
Later in the post-match press conference, evidence of Markram's words came when Chris Jordan spoke about Rahul's batting.
"KL is a world class batsman. It is a great pleasure to watch him play. I played with him for the first time when I played for RCB in 2016 and still, with the few shots he played, I knew he was a good batsman. Was a class player. It seemed, especially today, whenever he feels like hitting a six, he just takes it, no matter where the ball is. As I said he is such a high quality player, various Can play in different conditions and in different ways and he is more or less a 360 degree player too. Great to see him go out there today and lead from the front and put him on the line in a timely fashion to give us an outside chance to qualify Was. "
Whether the Kings make it to the playoffs or not - and that seems unlikely, they still need Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians to keep going and lose - Rahul's form during the IPL will be good for him and for India as well as preparation Has been a huge plus. For the upcoming T20 World Cup.