KL Rahul ready to roll with it

KL Rahul during his 77 on Day Three of the opening Test v Australia in Perth recently. Pic/Getty Images

Like a yo-yoing pendulum, KL Rahul has swung up and down the Indian Test batting order in the last 11 months. In South Africa in December-January, he dropped down to No. 6 for the first time in his career and marked the shift with a hundred in his first hit in that slot, in Centurion. A month later, he was batting at No. 4 against England in Hyderabad, where he made a sparkling 86 in the first innings and 22 in the second before doing his hamstring, which forced him to miss the remaining four matches.

Back and forth

At home in September-October, he was back at No. 6 for three Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand, until he was dropped for the last two games against the Kiwis. And in Perth 10 days back, he was pushed back to the top of the order again with Rohit Sharma unavailable, and again pulled the fat out of the fire with 26 in the first knock and 77 in the second, when he and Yashasvi Jaiswal added 201 for the opening wicket.

Now that Rohit is back for the pink-ball Test, starting on Friday, where does Rahul, the eternal swing man, bat? "I've been told, but I've also been told not to share it," the 32-year-old chuckled on Wednesday morning, clearly enjoying keeping the suspense going, but also relishing his part in India's 295-run win in the first of five Tests.

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Rahul's been around long enough not to be fazed by any challenge thrown his way. He has had success in different parts of the world as an opener - six of his eight hundreds have come outside Asia, four of them while opening the innings - and because he is now a 54-Test veteran in his 11th year in international cricket, he is more at home adjusting and adapting to whatever comes his way. He is sanguine - ‘It feels like 25 years,' he said, when asked of his first visit to this country, in 2014, ‘with the amount of injuries I've had' - but neither bitter nor searching for sympathy, let alone pity, all suggestive of a man at peace with himself and in a happy mental space because of the environment in which he is operating.

Tips for Jaiswal

Often touted as his own worst enemy because of the imaginary shackles he ties himself up in, Rahul was measured without being circumspect as he met the media, talking about nerves and confidence and comfort and explaining how he passed on tips received from Murali Vijay on his first appearance as opener in Sydney in January 2015 to Jaiswal during their second-innings association in Perth.

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Like Rohit and Virat Kohli in this squad alone, Rahul is one of the few to have led India in all three formats and is a leader in his own right. Whether as opener or in the middle-order, he has seldom shied away from the difficult tasks, much like his illustrious namesake from Bangalore, Rahul Dravid, the quintessential team man. Dravid starred in India's four-wicket triumph at the Adelaide Oval in 2003 with 233 and 72 not out; what Rahul won't give to follow suit in his first pink-ball Test.

7
No. of Test centuries scored by KL Rahul while opening the innings