KL Rahul must go from the needy to the greedy in quest of daddy hundreds having discovered his purple patch

KL Rahul, now more confident and settled in his role, is beginning to build the consistency that had often eluded him.

When cricketers, like all other professional sportspersons, insist that the desire to keep learning, to keep improving, to keep striving to get better, is innate and never-ending, they aren’t just falling back on cliches. Most walk the talk in the journey towards becoming the best versions of themselves. In some instances, the results are tangible and immediate; in other cases, they take a little longer in manifesting themselves. KL Rahul falls in the latter category.

KL Rahul scored a fine century in the first innings against West Indies in Ahmedabad.(AFP)

The 33-year-old has been a Test cricketer for more than a decade. He provided the first glimpses of his wonderful skills in only his second Test, in Sydney in January 2015, with what many were certain was the first of numerous hundreds. The classy right-hander will be the first to acknowledge that he hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations, but he is now on a course-correction spree that has netted him three centuries in his last six Tests.

An average of 35.41 after 63 Tests doesn’t paint the picture of a technically accomplished batter who possesses all the strokes in the book and plays them with authority and elegance when the mood seizes them. But then again, there is something about the art of making runs that doesn’t necessarily depend on technical expertise or unparalleled grace. Test runs can be accrued with gumption, in workmanlike fashion too; that’s what Rahul is slowly wisening up to, especially in India where boundary-hitting isn’t as frequent as overseas once the spinners come into play and the field spreads out.

Rahul has given the impression since the Champions Trophy in Dubai in February-March of someone who has exorcised his mental demons. He seems at peace with himself, especially since becoming a father for the first time towards the end of March. He smiles more readily, he doesn’t look like he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and he is relishing being the senior statesman in the Test team, all of which have contributed towards making him a compelling figure at the crease, whether in impeccable leaves outside off, in secure defence or in attractive strokeplay which he produces in great abundance.

KL Rahul’s reinvention: Mental drills, discipline and the hunger for more

Rahul 2.0 hasn’t come about by chance or accident. Not long back, he threw light on the kind of work he has done on his mind, work that is translating into the remarkable ability of turning up innings after innings with the same resilience and hunger. “I have spent a bit of time with an expert who can help me with improving my reaction time and other mental drills,” he revealed. “A lot of other sports use it. I have seen this in Formula One and I picked this up from one of the guys that I worked with in Salzburg (Austria).”

From a purely cricketing standpoint, he has inculcated the discipline that dictates that runs can be accrued in ones and twos too, not just through blazing stroke-making and a bouquet of breathtaking boundaries. In Ahmedabad, he took 190 deliveries for his 11th hundred; it contained only 12 fours, which means 52% of his runs came the less glamorous way, though judicious placement and hard running. Test runs hold the same value, whether they are scored the Sehwag way, by peppering the boundary boards, or more traditionally, by grafting and putting in the hard yards. By his own admission, the delay in making that mental adjustment earlier is what cost him big runs in India previously – before Friday, only one of his centuries had come at home, 199 against England in Chennai nearly nine years ago.

Rahul fell in the first over after lunch for an even 100, the fifth time he has been dismissed between 100 and 110. That’s something for him to work on. With the pitch flattening out and the West Indian bowling holding little threat, Rahul could have gone on and on, like Shubman Gill did in England and like all greedy batters do when they are on to a good thing. Maybe now, he will learn how to be greedy too because especially for a batter, there can be no greater ally than that so-called vice.