KL Rahul has been among the finest performing openers in SENA countries.
KL Rahul is an interesting case. He goes on every overseas tour with high expectations, shows glimpses of his true potential, and fades. This is a pattern on every tour – he performs well in patches, but when the reliance on him increases, his graph starts coming down.
But even while performing in patches, Rahul has played a few phenomenal knocks in the most arduous conditions, or what’s normally termed as SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) conditions. For Asian batters, these four countries are the most challenging to succeed in, and runs don’t come easily. The task is even more arduous for openers.
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KL Rahul has been among the finest performing openers in SENA, and some of his knocks have come in the most challenging conditions when others refused to back his efforts. Overall, he has 1451 runs at an average of 35.39 in 42 innings, including four fifties and five centuries. That Rahul’s average hovers around 35 indicates how inconsistent he has been despite playing a few all-time great knocks.
In Australia, he has 435 runs at an average of 31.07 in 15 innings, comprising two fifties and a century. Similarly, in South Africa, he has assembled 240 runs at 26.66 in nine outings, including one fifty and a century. His best has come in England: 776 runs at an average of 43.11, with one fifty and three hundreds.
For the record, he has never played in New Zealand. That again depicts his inconsistent performances with the bat. It never allowed him to settle into the team and own that opening spot.
While comparing Indian openers across eras, one name stands apart – Sunil Gavaskar. He has the best Indian Test opener and the second-best Test batter, after Sachin Tendulkar. Gavaskar has 2464 runs at an average of 44.80 in 57 innings, including 11 fifties and eight centuries.
He has averaged over 40 in all three countries, like Australia, New Zealand, and England and was highly successful as an opener. He obviously didn’t play in South Africa because they were banned during his era. No theory suggests he wouldn’t have been successful in this part of the world had he played here.
The other batters who have performed well are Virender Sehwag, Murali Vijay, Ravi Shastri, and even Rohit Sharma in later parts. Sehwag mostly did well in Australia, but was mediocre in the other three countries. Vijay’s career was somewhat similar to Rahul’s; a few quality innings almost everywhere, but not as consistent overall.
However, Vijay performed really well in Australia, decent in England, but was suboptimal in the other two nations. Ravi Shastri excelled in Australia and England, but his sample size is of only 18 innings. Gautam Gambhir mostly did well in New Zealand, while Rohit Sharma redeemed himself in England, even though he could have potentially done a lot better had he played as an opener from the start.
Their performances confirm one thing: opening is an arduous role in SENA countries. Rahul has done a fairly decent job, even if he has only been consistent in patches. Comparatively, he performed better than many of the above names, given that he scored tough runs in almost every country.
Overall, he is the third-leading run-getter among Indian openers in SENA countries. He will likely surpass Virender Sehwag soon and claim the second spot. He also has the second-most centuries.
Run-scoring is one thing, but the conditions they have come in have to be accounted for more. The pitches have been treacherous in Rahul’s era, so the runs he scored obviously mean more than the openers of the past. Since 2000, the batting averages in SENA countries have been the second-lowest (26.41) in 2024, the third-lowest (26.62) in 2018, the fourth-lowest (27.32) in 2021, the fifth-lowest (28.04) in 2022, the sixth-lowest (28.30) in 2020, and the seventh-lowest (29.69) in 2019.
40 of Rahul’s 42 innings as an opener came between these years. That clearly depicts that he did all the hard work. This also means that his failures will be more than those in the past.
For instance, Sehwag’s career spanned from 2002 to 2012, and the collective average in these countries between these years was 32.37. Similarly, Vijay’s era had an average of 31.23, Gambhir’s era had 32.14, and Shastri’s era saw 31.47 runs scored per wicket by batters. Between 2018 and 2025, the batting average shrank to 28.25.
And yet, Rahul has managed to play some of the finest knocks in the history of Indian cricket. He might have his failures, but Rahul has shown the expertise to adapt to various conditions, which is an achievement in itself. All the above names have failed miserably in at least two countries, but then there’s Rahul.
In SENA countries, among the matches Rahul has opened in, other openers have collectively averaged 29.73. Rahul, on the other hand, averages 35.39. So, while Rahul can be frustrating at times, he still performs better than an average opener.
If we compare him with other Indian openers in SENA countries, only Sunil Gavaskar might be ahead based on conditions and sample size. The likes of Sehwag and Vijay have done well, but they often failed in most countries, and batting was relatively easier in their time.
So, it’s safe to conclude that KL Rahul is the second-best Indian opener of all time in SENA countries.
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