World Cup 2019: Has KL Rahul cemented his place at No. 4?

The ICC World Cup 2019 has begun but India would have to wait till June 5 to kick-start their campaign, against South Africa. In their pre-tournament practice games, the Indian team had to contend with mixed results, losing the first and winning the second one.

As the name itself goes, practice games are not played for results. Instead, they are used by the teams to enable all the squad members to acclimatize to the weather and playing conditions. They also provide an opportunity for teams to plug in any gaps in identifying their first choice playing XI.

For individual players who are in the squad but are not sure of their place in the XI, an impressive outing in one of the practice games can act as a quick way to seal their spot.

That narrative has gone perfectly in the case of the Indian team. Though they have sent a very strong contingent to the cricketing carnival, there is one visible gap in their batting line-up - the No. 4 slot.

Rahul making his case for No. 4

Though India had couple of other options in the squad, they chose to send Karnataka batsman K L Rahul at No. 4 in both the practice games. Rahul got out cheaply against New Zealand, but he was successful in making his case in the fixture against Bangladesh.

In the match against their Asian neighbors, India were sent in to bat first after losing the toss, and both the openers were back in the hut when the score was just 50. At the fall of the second opener, Rahul joined his skipper Virat Kohli and didn’t take much time to get going.

After a brief partnership Kohli departed at his team’s score of 83, and Rahul was joined by another experienced campaigner, MS Dhoni. Rahul, who was looking good from the word go, went after every Bangladeshi bowler introduced into the attack, and played shots to all parts of the ground.

Soon Dhoni got into attacking mode too, especially against spinners. And Rahul, taking inspiration from his senior partner, started improvising as well. A majority of his runs came in boundaries as he hit 12 boundaries and 4 sixes.

As the spinners were looking ineffective against the Rahul-Dhoni duo, Bangladesh introduced their premier bowler Mustafizur Rahman back into the attack. The Bangalore lad immediately greeted Rahman with a boundary, and followed it up with a six in each of the next two overs of the Bangladeshi pacer.

Between those two sixes, Rahul reached his century mark in just 94 deliveries by taking a single of Sabbir Rahman. He eventually gifted his wicket to the same bowler, getting bowled around the legs he as shuffled across to try and send the ball over short fine region.

The knock of 108 runs off 99 balls seems to have come at the right time for both India and Rahul. The Indian think-tank might have found their No. 4, at least for the first couple of games. Unless they are in a mood to experiment further, they are likely to go with the stylish right-handed batsman from Karnataka at the No. 4 position.

Tough road ahead

In case that happens, the onus will be on Rahul to consolidate his position further for the rest of the tournament. But that is easier said than done, as India would be facing stronger opponents in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan in their first four matches.

On an optimistic note, a couple of high impact performances in those matches would do a world of good to the confidence of the dashing Indian batsman. Provided everything goes according to plan, Rahul’s presence at No. 4 would be a perfect solution for India.