Why Doesn’t KL Rahul Thrive Like Others in Test Cricket?

Making his debut in the Test format in 2014, it has been more than a decade of KL Rahul being a part of the team in the longest format of the game. But his name is still not recognised by the fans among the greatest Test batsmen for the Indian team in the modern era, where players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, and many more have their names.

Test format is also known as the toughest format of the game, where only the classic batsmen are able to survive and score well for their teams, as it involves a strategic approach to the game. And for this, KL Rahul is the best-suited batsman for the Indian cricket team. Despite this, he is regarded as one of the most underrated players in the Test format.

Matches	Innings	Runs	High Score	Average	Balls Faced	Strike Rate	100s	50s
59	103	3411	199	34.80	6463	52.77	9	17

Before the first match of the India tour of England, Rahul had played just 58 Test matches and scored 3257 runs at an average of 33.57, with 8 centuries and 17 half-centuries. Even in the first Test against England, he made a magnificent century in the third innings, putting India ahead in the match. Let’s now take a look at the reasons why KL Rahul stands as an underachiever in the Test format.

Floating in the Lineup

One of the major reasons why KL Rahul has not been able to make his name in the Test format is his unstable batting position. Although he is designated to be an opener for the team, he sometimes comes out at number 5 or even at number 7, bringing in some interruptions. This has been from his debut, as he came to bat at number 6 in the first innings and number 3 in the second innings.

Position	Matches	Innings	Runs	High Score	Average	Strike Rate	100s	50s
1st	26	41	1601	199	40.02	52.76	4	8
2nd	28	44	1381	137	32.88	49.96	4	6
3rd	5	7	112	54	16.00	60.21	0	1
4th	1	2	108	86	54.00	63.15	0	1
6th	6	9	234	101	29.25	69.23	1	1

Such shifts in his batting position have made him unstable, as no one knows when or after which wicket he will be coming out to bat. His main spot has ideally been as an opener in this format, but bringing him down to number 3, 4, or even 6 has resulted in some poor performances.

Along with that, he also didn’t receive frequent opportunities to play, having played just 58 Test matches before the England tour, ever since his debut. This makes it roughly 5-6 Test matches per year, where his batting order has been shifted by the coach and captain a good number of times, putting him down his usual order.

Coming in at the 1st position, Rahul has scored 1601 runs in 26 matches at an average of 40.02 runs, with 4 centuries and 8 half-centuries. Also, he holds good stats at 2nd position, scoring 1381 runs in 28 matches at an average of 32.88, with 4 centuries and 6 half-centuries. Thus, if he is opening for the team, he is able to give his best performance with the bat, having scored 8 of his 9 centuries while opening.

But when coming to bat at number 3, his average drops to 16, having scored 112 runs in 5 matches. At number 4, he has played just one match and scored 108 runs at an average of 54. During the recent series against New Zealand, where India suffered a whitewash, Rahul went back to his 6th position, where he now holds 234 runs in 6 matches at an average of 29.25.

During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, Rahul regained his spot as an opener since Rohit Sharma was unavailable in the first game. Following Sharma’s retirement, he took up the spot for the England tour and didn’t disappoint, smashing a century in the first match. Moreover, with this, he holds the joint-most 50+ scores by an Indian opener in SENA, at the 2nd spot with Murali Vijay and Virender Sehwag.

Injury Woes

KL Rahul’s career has been filled with injury woes, which have kept him out of the game for some time. This has also been the reason why Rahul has received fewer opportunities to play for the team in the Test format, despite having his first Test match played in 2014. In June 2015, he first got himself diagnosed with Dengue, missing the Test match against Bangladesh.

Playing for India in the first Test match against New Zealand in 2016 in Kanpur, Rahul picked up a hamstring injury. Following this, he was ruled out for the rest of the series. He made his comeback in November in the Test series against England. But even after recovering from the hamstring injury, he injured his forearm in the 2nd Test, which ruled him out for the 3rd Test.

During the 2017 Test series against Australia, KL Rahul once again suffered an injury, but this time in his shoulders. It took place in the first Test, but he went on to play the remainder of the series, which added more to the pain. Unfortunately, he had to miss out on IPL 2017 and the Champions Trophy due to the shoulder injury.

Some minor injuries still affected him after the series against Australia. But his next major injury came in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21, where he sprained his left wrist. This incident took place in the training session before the third Test match, and Rahul was ruled out of the series without even playing a single match in the same.

In May 2021, he suffered from an acute appendicitis in IPL 2021, which required surgery for his recovery. Rahul missed out on a match for the Punjab Kings due to the same, before the tournament got postponed. Following that, he was set to play in the Test series against New Zealand in November 2021, but a left thigh strain pulled him out of the series.

KL Rahul also suffered from a sports hernia in 2022, due to which he missed out on the fifth Test match against England in July. Later in May 2023, during an IPL match, he suffered a right thigh muscle injury in an attempt to chase the ball. Following this, he went for a surgery and missed the World Test Championship final, the West Indies tour, and also the remainder of the IPL.

With Rahul almost getting himself recovered from the thigh injury ahead of the Asia Cup, he suffered from a niggle, which pulled him out for the first two league games. Such injuries have also put pressure on the selectors as to whether he will be suitable for the longest format of the game or not.

Hot and Cold

If there is a phrase to describe KL Rahul’s test form, it will be “Hot and Cold.” There are a number of reasons that can contribute to the same, knowing the fact that his career has been affected by injuries and shifts in the batting order. But there is another factor, which is his inconsistent performances for the team across all the matches.

Match in Series	Matches	Innings	Runs	High Score	Average	Strike Rate	100s	50s
1st Match in Series	17	32	1067	123	34.41	51.37	2	5
2nd Match in Series	18	31	915	158	30.50	49.06	3	5
3rd Match in Series	10	18	431	85	25.35	57.69	0	4

In the first match of the series, Rahul has scored 1067 runs in 17 matches at an average of 34.41, with two centuries and 5 half-centuries. But this drops to an extent in the second match of the series, where he has scored 915 runs in 18 matches at an average of 30.50, with 3 centuries and 5 half-centuries.

His performances dropped even more in the third match of the series, where KL Rahul held 431 runs in 10 matches at an average of 25.35, with 4 half-centuries only. Thus, it shows that as the matches progress in a Test series, Rahul has failed to perform consistently in all of them, with his performances being hot in the first match, and becoming cold, as the series progress.