For a while, day 1 of the game between Karnataka and Haryana seemed to be meandering like any other Ranji Trophy encounter: There were hardly 60-70 fans around as Mayank Agarwal and KV Aneesh went about collecting runs. But all that was above to change. At around 10.30 AM, when Aneesh was dismissed, KL Rahul walked out to take strike, sending the sparse crowd into delirium. In another 5-10 minutes’ time, another 60-70 fans seemed to have made their way out to the only stand that was kept open for the game.
It tells us that despite Rahul perhaps not fulfilling his promise, he is a huge crowd favourite in his home state. To vindicate that further, early on in Rahul’s first innings, his every run received warm applause from the fans. But, that was the crowd. But how did Rahul go about his business while playing his first Ranji game in almost five years?
In both the innings, he played some elegant drives, cuts and the occasional pull. In the second innings, in particular, he looked in fine touch, before once again not being able to convert his start into a score of substance. There were a few other key pointers to observe. In the first essay, it took a fine delivery that was very close to off stump to dismiss him – the same tactic had previously been used at the highest level to dismiss him.
Over the years, Rahul has mastered the art of watching the ball till the last moment and playing inside the line while facing deliveries that move late and away off the deck. To negate his strength, Ollie Robinson of England (in 2021) and Pat Cummins of Australia (2024-25) shifted their lines, bringing it closer to top of off. Subsequently, Rahul was dislodged by fullish deliveries that straightened or nipped away. Both pacers deliberately tried to create an angle by bowling from wide of the crease.
There isn’t anything unusual in opposition teams brainstorming different ways to get on top of the batter. But the fact that even domestic teams have started to implement the plan to perfection should ring a few alarm bells for Rahul. Anshul Kamboj, the bowler who dismissed him, is tailor-made for zoning in on top of off.
Rahul also seemed to bat with a slightly higher bat-lift and the stance was probably a tad more front-on. Maybe the relatively higher bat-lift is the connecting dot to the forthcoming ODIs against England and the Champions Trophy, a bid to ramp up his power-game for limited-overs cricket. But that also brings up another question: In that case, what was the point of Indian stars playing the Ranji Trophy? Would playing in the longest format help players fine-tune their games for ODI cricket? Perhaps not.
In the short-term, however, it seems to have given a much-needed boost to the Ranji Trophy. For a couple of weeks, social media was abuzz with everything related to the grand old tournament. Unfortunately, all it took for the hype to die down was Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma or Rahul losing their wickets and walking back to the pavilion.
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