The batter used all his experience to lessen the pressure on India when England were in control
KL Rahul’s presence in the batting line-up for the England tour was essential for the Indian team soon after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from Tests before the series start.
Not only was Rahul the experienced head in a young team, he had the know-how of playing in tough conditions in the UK and he was scoring the scrappy yet most-important runs for his team.
In his last tour of England in 2021, Rahul averaged an impressive 39 but much more was needed of him in 2025. He left for the tour a week early, as soon as his Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign was over with Delhi Capitals.
AUSA-W
–
INDA-W
–
KNK
229/5
AMR
13/0
Match delayed due to rain
VSS
–
ROR
–
TBW
–
SVL
–
EDR
235/5
ODW
231/7
East Delhi Riders beat Outer Delhi Warriors by 5 wickets
NDT
190/7
PD
200/6
Purani Delhi 6 beat New Delhi Tigers by 10 runs
CDK
–
ODW
–
EDR
–
SDS
–
CRO
–
CYP
–
CRO
–
CYP
–
CRO
–
CYP
–
CRO
–
CYP
–
CRO
135/6
CYP
136/7
Cyprus beat Croatia by 3 wickets
CRO
141/10
CYP
193/6
Cyprus beat Croatia by 52 runs
BAN
–
SPE
–
Match Awarded to Spencer
WIM
160/5
ESM
166/3
East Molesey beat Wimbledon by 7 wickets
TBC
–
TBC
–
Match Canceled
SPE
158/6
ESM
172/4
East Molesey Won by 14 runs
NOR
172/10
YOR
374/5
Yorkshire beat Northamptonshire by 202 runs
SURR
208/10
GLO
293/9
Gloucestershire beat Surrey by 85 runs
SOM
85/3
DURH
255/9
GTC
43/5
91YC
44/1
91 Yards Club beat Gauhati Town Club by 9 wickets
NVR
111/10
BCC
112/3
Bud Cricket Club beat Navarang Club by 7 wickets
CCC
–
NAJC
–
GTC
–
NVR
–
RTZ
–
JJ
–
KGC
–
KUMS
–
KRMPS
226/6
CEC-A
223/7
ACE KRM Panthers won by 4 wickets
SEL
139/10
PRK
166/8
Perak beat Selangor by 27 runs
JOR
175/10
PENG
92/10
Johor beat Penang by 83 runs
MEL
75/10
KLPR
298/6
Kuala Lumpur beat Melaka by 223 runs
KLPR
–
JOR
–
MEL
–
PRK
–
PENG
–
SEL
–
BBW
98/9
MWW
110/6
Mysore Warriors Women beat Bengaluru Blasters Women by 12 runs
MDW
114/4
SHLW
113/6
Mangalore Dragons Women beat Shivamogga Lioness Women by 6 wickets
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
EAE
130/10
PMW
168/5
Pupkewitz Motors Wildcats beat Eavion Eagles by 38 runs
PAJ
155/5
NPB
159/7
NPL Bears beat Paratus Jets by 3 wickets
PAJ
–
EAE
–
NPB
–
PMW
–
IRE-W
171/6
PAK-W
168/6
Ireland Women beat Pakistan Women by 4 wickets
WI
122/3
PAK
–
SLGY
192/4
SLBL
168/8
SLC Greys beat SLC Blues by 24 runs
BIP
70/4
TRR
–
OVI
–
MAO
–
WEF
–
LOS
–
BIP-W
148/5
TRW-W
137/6
Birmingham Phoenix Women won by 11 runs
OIW-W
–
MOW-W
–
WFW-W
–
LSW-W
–
FRA
116/7
NOR
138/5
Norway beat France by 22 runs
SWE
136/10
AUST
139/6
Austria beat Sweden by 4 wickets
SWE
–
NOR
–
AUST
–
FRA
–
He scored a fluent hundred in Northampton where batting was a struggle and then followed it up with scores of 42, 137, 2, 55, 100, 39, 46, 90, 14 and 7 in the main series. Every time he set foot on the pitch, Rahul’s assured batting calmed things down for India as they drew a riveting series 2-2. He scored runs off boundaries that came off conventional shots against loose balls and gave the respect good bowling deserved.
His dismissals had come against unplayable deliveries which had a massive impact in the final result of the match.
His lbw on 39 at Lord’s put India’s chase of 193 under immense pressure as they eventually lost the match by a mere 22 runs. His 90 in the second innings at Old Trafford and a partnership of 188 with captain Shubman Gill helped India save the match and stay in contention.
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Even while fielding, Rahul took six catches in the slips and remained the voice of reason while advising Gill with DRS calls.
Former India keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik was full of praise for Rahul for keeping things in order.
“You got to understand. Just as the precursor to the series, the three big guns retired- Virat, Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin. Now, walking into the series, there were two big names – one is KL Rahul and one is Jadeja. And lo and behold, KL Rahul has always had this great starts to many a series but not finished strong. But in this series that young boy has grown into a man,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
Rahul finished the series with 532 runs from five matches, bettering his average from the previous tour to 53.2 which was the second best by an Indian opener in England Tests.
“I think he shouldered responsibility. He is probably the most technically sound player across both teams and he backed his technique. Under pressure, he said I will stick to my game plan and back my defensive skills and play long and I will get runs for India every game in the series. There was zero pressure when he batted, very sound in his defence and beautiful looking cover drive as you would expect,” Karthik added.
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