K L Rahul: Mangaluru’s lad who is India’s new test cricketer

 

Mangaluru/ Mumbai, 10 Nov 2014: KL Rahul’s hard work and prayers have been answered. The Karnataka wicket-keeper batsman will be on the flight to Australia later this month for India’s four-Test tour.

 

Following five straight overseas Test series’ losses, starting all the way back in England in 2011 and coming a full circle earlier this year, the national selectors took up the task of picking India’s long-format squad for the upcoming tour of Australia after they met in Mumbai on Monday.

 

 

Rahul, who considers Dravid as his icon, is talked of highly by ’The Wall’ himself, who had backed Rahul’s inclusion for the tour of Australia.

 

"He has scored over 1000 runs in the domestic season, looks in really good form with twin hundreds in the Duleep final, so if you are going to give a youngster an opportunity, it’s good to pick him if he’s in good form and actually playing well," stated Dravid. "You are picking him, at least initially, as a back-up opener."

 

Son of the NITK Engineering College dean Dr K N Lokesh, the 22-year-old wicketkeeper batsman Rahul started his cricket when he was 11 - honing his skills behind and in front of wickets under the watchful eyes of Karnataka State Cricket Academy (KSCA) coaches Samuel Jayaraj Muttu and Devdas Nayak.

 

"He is a cricketer with commitment and discipline. His hard work and efforts will lead him to the goal he wants to reach," Muttu had said when Rahul was selected to play under-19 World Cup in 2010 following his 276 runs at an average of 55.20 in the 2008-09 Vinoo Mankad Trophy.

 

For the technically sound nature of his batting, which has earned Rahul 2100 first-class runs in 27 matches, including six hundreds and eight fifties at an average of 51.21, he has often been compared to his idol Dravid.

 

"I feel really happy when I am compared to Dravid. I used to watch his batting since I was a child," Rahul stated in an interview. "It’s a big compliment for me. I can’t express the feeling when my name appears in the same sentence as Dravid’s, someone who has been so successful and is called ’The Wall’ of Indian cricket. It’s a morale-booster for me and increases my confidence."

 

The performance which perhaps prompted the selectors to tick Rahul’s name came in the Duleep Trophy final, where he struck centuries in both the innings for South Zone. But it will be a ’Test’ fair notches above than what Rahul has experienced so far when he travels to Australia as India’s third specialist opener in the squad.

 

Dravid, in fact, had called the inclusion of Rahul in the squad before BCCI’s announcement.