Does quality pace expose a chink in KL Rahul’s armour? Is Shoaib Akhtar right in saying Rahul is “scared”?

Against Australia and South Africa in the home series, KL Rahul was out of the gates from the get go. On the belters of Nagpur, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati, he took an ultra-aggressive approach against the pacers and scored runs. But when it comes to pitches with something for the bowlers, be it variable pace in the UAE and swing and seam on the fresh drop-in surfaces of Australia, Rohit Sharma’s deputy has struggled and in Shoaib Akhtar’s words, “looked scared”.
In his four outings against Pakan, KL Rahul has managed 35 runs, a strike rate below 100 and was dismissed thrice the pacers.
Three-four years back, Rahul’s game was a touch iffy outside off stump, as he would hang his bat out like a half-formed thought, hands betraying him. He was dropped from the team. He went back, worked on it, and came back. And started his famous celebration of ‘shutting out the noise’ with his fingers in his ears. And what does he find these days? The problem with the incoming ball.
He can often end up playing around his front pad. On air, Sunil Gavaskar said that his first movement of the left foot gets him into a problem. It’s clear recent form that he needs to get it sorted out again. He doesn’t move forward or back or stay still – one of the three decisive elements is needed; instead he sort of wobbles a bit, and can get pretty tentative with his defensive prods.
Here’s a look at the recent dismissal of KL Rahul against quality pace bowlers:
Netherlands at Sydney (T20 World Cup)
KL Rahul lbw b van Meekeren (9 off 12b)
Paul van Meekeren, the quickest among the Dutch bowlers, hurried KL Rahul for pace and the Indian batter was trapped in front, trying to go across the line.
Pakan at MCG (T20 World Cup)
KL Rahul b Naseem Sham (4 off 8b)
Naseem Shah bowled a nagging length just short of a good length and KL Rahul dragged it onto the stumps. It was bowled at 142 kph. Even before he was out, Rahul was struggling. On the first ball of India’s innings, he dead batted a low full toss, which almost carried to Shaheen Shah Afridi in his follow-through. Next ball, he almost dragged it to his stumps. Maybe the ghosts of Dubai were still haunting him.
Western Australia at Perth (warm-up)
KL Rahul c Morris b Tye (74 off 55b)
Although he managed to score a 54-ball 74 in the second warm-up match against Western Australia, he struggled against the quality attack of Jason Behrendorff, Matthew Kelly, Andrew Tye and Lance Morris.
Australia at Brisbane
KL Rahul c Agar b Maxwell (57 off 33b)
In the warm-up match against Australia, Rahul scored a 33-ball 57, hitting three sixes, all of them half-trackers. The moment Pat Cummins bowled in the Test match channel he was hit on the helmet.
Pakan at Dubai (Asia Cup)
KL Rahul b Naseem Shah (0 off 1b)
It was a maiden T20I wicket for Naseem Shah. It was bowled at 142kph, a tentative Rahul offered a nothing shot, dangling his bat outside off, and unsurprisingly the ball went off the inner edge to fall on the stumps.
New Zealand at Dubai (2021 T20 World Cup)
KL Rahul c Mitchell b Southee 18 (16b)
Trent Boult and Tim Southee had made Rahul’s life miserable during his stay at the crease. He ended up throwing away his wicket to Tim Southee.
Pakan at Dubai (2021 T20 World Cup)
KL Rahul b Shaheen Shah Afridi 3
Shaheen Shah Afridi was spitting fire on that night. India had no answers, and neither did KL Rahul had, which angled into him and bowled him through the gate. He was cramped for room, and to cut some slack to Rahul, it was the mother of an unplayable inswinging delivery.