Lokesh Rahul, is he required for Tests? Merely to state that Lokesh Rahul is an unfulfilled talent is stating the obvious. He is someone with loads of talent capable of scoring at will. He does not have any glaring technical weakness against pace or spin. Rahul is perfectly capable of scoring against the greatest bowler and fail against the also ran bowlers. There is a growing school of thought that if Rahul had played the New Zealand series instead of Shaw or Agarwal, especially, after Rohit Sharma left, India would have fared much better. Is it really the case?
Rahul’s debut
Anyone who had seen Rahul’s debut innings will remember it pretty well. He came in down the order in the first innings and in the second, he played an ugly hoick across the line to get out. At that point, most of us would have thought that Rahul is an excellent player at the Ranji level but not that good at the international level. However, he proved that these were nothing but nerves that anyone will have when playing their first game for the country and that in a hostile land with a well-constructed hundred.
Rahul’s career
Thereafter, he scored three hundreds including a 199 in the span of 16 innings but it was laced with more than a few acceptable scores less than 25. He had a true purple patch in that series against Australia in 2017 where he may not have got a single hundred but lot of 50s which proved to be series winning efforts. His twin fifties in the second test in Bangalore proved to be the difference between the teams. It was a fabulous effort on a difficult pitch. He scored another pair of fifties in the last test at Dharmshala that ensured that India won the series. A series that India were expected to wallop the Australians, we somehow scrambled to 2-1 win. The contribution of Rahul can never be underestimated.
Fall from heights
From such an excellent series, Rahul has had a horror run over the next 19 tests & 32 innings. Simply put, Rahul during this period was so horrible that he was considered a misfit in the entire team. His string of poor scores in England and Australia during this period, contributed to some of the defeats that the Indian team endured. If only he had scored, India would have won a couple of tests in England and thereby the series. His horror ended only after he was dropped from the last two tests in Australia. A total of 32 innings is decent enough chances in a country where there are sufficient number of players for every position though the quality may not be good.
Rahul’s predicament
Rahul seems to be confused in how he wants to bat. He is either too aggressive or too defensive. He does not know what shot to play and when to play. There was one innings in Australia where he scored a quick 40 and played one shot too many and got out. Maybe just maybe, he is not a natural opener at all. His position in the team is in the middle order, after Kohli. If at all he has to play Test Cricket, Rahul will have to bat at no. 5 or no. 6 and definitely not as an opener.
Rahul short format performance
However, I firmly believe that Rahul future lies in the short format and not in test cricket. Even in the short formats, it is in the middle order. His ideal position is No. 5 in the short formats and combined with keeping wickets, he will be an asset to the team. He can play his shots freely in that position without having to worry about occupying the crease.
Over the last year in ODIs and T20s, Rahul has been exceptional. Not only was he consistent but he scored quickly and authoritatively. Most of them from No. 5. The manner by which he scored those runs, any opponent team will be demoralised. That is something the team dearly needs. After Rohit, Kohli and to a certain extent Shreyas, if Rahul walks in, the team and the rest of the country will be much relieved. Again, his place is in the middle order. Even in the shorter formats because if he goes back to opening the innings, he will again be confused whether to play defensively and support Rohit Sharma or play aggressively and destroy the bowlers. Witness his uncluttered mind at number 5 in the last World Cup and his laborious innings as an opener after Dhawan was injured.
Conclusion
Rahul must forget about Test Cricket. He must concentrate on the shorter formats and improve his keeping, he can easily be one of the most important player in the team. He will definitely score lot of runs and finish the game for the team. I will say this once again that Lokesh Rahul is not a good fit in Test Cricket but a potential great in the short formats. Also, playing Rahul as the wicket keeper will not only lengthen the batting but will also allow the team to play 2 spinners.
The board must resist the temptation to bring him back for tests however well he performs in limited overs. Otherwise, Rahul will not be clear in the method that he wants to adopt and will not be able to adapt between the formats. The team will run the risk of losing Rahul permanently from all forms of the game. The board must treat him in much the same way the Australian board dealt with Bevan. Bevan only played ODIs and became an extraordinary one-day player and he never played test cricket again.
Do you think Rahul must be persisted with in Tests? Will he be able to realise his potential, finally? On the otherhand, is it good enough only for the shorter formats?