KL Rahul’s return, a boon for India

India`s KL Rahul celebrates his century against Pakistan during the Asia Cup at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo recently

The return of KL Rahul to the national team after his long-drawn injury has been a huge positive for India as he has found form almost instantaneously.

This bodes well heading into the all-important ODI World Cup.

Rahul is no stranger to the big ODI world stage.

He made some valuable contributions in the previous edition of the quadrennial event in England in 2019.

Rahul, 31, was India's third highest run-getter of the tournament with 361 runs in nine matches at an average of 45.12 and strike rate of 77.46, behind Rohit Sharma (648 runs) and then captain, Virat Kohli (443 runs).

His first notable contribution came in the big-ticket clash against arch-rivals Pakistan at Manchester, India's fourth match of the tournament. After India were put into bat, Rahul made 57 runs off 78 balls in a 136-run opening partnership with Rohit Sharma (140 runs) which set the foundation for India's big total of 336-5. India went on to win the match by 89 runs (D/L method).

Then, Rahul made 77 runs off 92 balls against Bangladesh at Birmingham, where India elected to bat.

He was again part of a massive opening stand of 180 runs with Rohit (104 runs), which helped India put up a total of 314-9, to win by 28.

Rahul followed that up with an innings of 111 off 118 balls against Sri Lanka at Leeds. Chasing 265, it was the 189-run opening stand with Rohit (103 runs) which put India in the driver's seat for the seven-wicket win.

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Apart from these innings, he also made 30 against Afghanistan and 48 against West Indies, both in winning causes. Rahul's contribution was a big reason why India topped the group in 2019.

Back to the current scenario, Rahul, who has made 2213 runs in 59 ODIs at 48.10, has been in good nick ever since he came back from a severe thigh injury picked up during the IPL, which kept him out of action for over four months. He made his comeback in the recently concluded Asia Cup against Pakistan at Colombo and immediately struck form.

Rahul (111 not out off 106 balls) paired up brilliantly with Virat Kohli (122 not out off 94 balls) for an unbeaten third-wicket partnership of 233 runs, which helped India post a mammoth 356-2, eventually winning the contest by 228 runs.

Rahul then made 39 runs against Sri Lanka in a low-scoring contest at Colombo, where India won by 41 runs. In all, he made 169 runs in three innings at 84.50 in the continental event.

His most recent 58 not out off 63 balls as captain against Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series at Mohali on Friday adds to his confidence with just about two weeks to go to India's first match of the World Cup. His recent form at No. 4 also means India have more clarity on their middle-order, which has been a cause for concern for quite some time now.

All things put together, Rahul's performance and valuable experience from the previous edition of the ODI World Cup, coupled with his good form heading into the forthcoming one, only gives India a stronger case to sit as favourites for the global event at home.