KL Rahul has played a crucial role in the title-winning Champions Trophy 2025 campaign
KL Rahul’s transformation from a classy top-order batter who sees a lot of ball to that of an utility player who can bat anywhere and take up any role for the team has been a blessing in disguise for India.
Him taking up the wicket-keeping duties and batting in the lower half of the middle-order have played a crucial role in India reaching the 2023 ODI World Cup and winning their third Champions Trophy recently in Dubai.
His tally of 140 runs from five matches in the Champions Trophy might fail to flatter but they were gold dust once the match situations are considered. If not for his courageous 42 not out off 34 balls in the semifinal against Australia, India would’ve seen a different result than a triumphant campaign.
After the match when faced with the question about his role in the team and if his performances were up to the mark, something seemed to have snapped inside him.
“Whenever I perform well in a series and then take a break from the ODI circuit, I always face questions upon my return after 4-5 months. People wonder if I’ll even make the playing XI or where I’ll fit into the team. It makes me think at times, ‘What more can I do?’ But no matter where I’ve been asked to play, I’ve always given my best, and I believe I’ve executed my role to the best of my ability,” he said in the post-match press conference then.
Looking back on it after a couple of months, Rahul told former England captain Nasser Hussain what he goes through on a daily basis as an international cricketer playing for India.
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“I don’t mind proving myself all the time. That’s how any sport is – to always perform in every tournament. That’s the case with international cricketers anywhere in the world. But that’s not the hard part – it’s the people who make the decisions seem to forget what the player has done in the recent tournament. It has been the challenge for me,” he said in an interview for Sky Sports.
The 33-year-old felt that the comments might be the same again when he returns to the ODI team in August when India will play three matches in Bangladesh.
“The next ODI tournament might be after five months because it’s going to be a long English Test summer and you see people writing and commenting ‘we need to look for players who can play the 2027 World Cup or the World Cup after that.’ But it’s not just a challenge for me but every cricketer goes through it. I got a bit emotional during the press conference (after Champions Trophy semifinal) and said that,” he further added.
The Karnataka batter is also doing well in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 for Delhi Capitals. Despite his team losing out in the playoffs race, Rahul has topscored for DC with 504 runs from 13 innings at an average of 56 which includes as a hundred and three big fifties.
In the previous edition, he had scored 520 runs playing for Lucknow Super Giants but was not picked for the 2024 T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA which India won. Despite the cutthroat competition for spots in the T20I side, Rahul hopes to play in the 2026 World Cup to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
“I am never the kind of player who tells the selectors or the captain what kind of role I want to play in the team. It’s just better to adjust my game to whatever the needs of the team are. I do want to get back in the T20 team and (playing in) the 2026 World Cup is on my mind. But for now, I want to enjoy my IPL,” Rahul said.
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