Worrying trend: KL Rahul’s poor practice of throwing away assured starts |

NEW DELHI: KL Rahul opened the batting for India yet again and looked really solid for his 64-ball 37 but went on to throw his wicket late in the first session on the opening day of the day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide on Friday.
Riding on his luck, Rahul had a couple of escapes in the first innings, including a dramatic no-ball dismissal survival but the top-order batter showed nerves of steel against the new ball and a top Aussie bowling attack which made the ball talk.
Negating a moving pink cherry, Rahul majorly avoided the deliveries outside off but eventually succumbed trying to do the same.
As paceman Mitchell Starc got one to rise a bit extra, Rahul couldn’t get his bat away in time and was caught at gully by Nathan McSweeney in the 19th over of the innings.
With Rahul’s dismissal in late 30s, he failed to capitalise on an assured start, which is something that the 32-year-old has done quite a few times throughout his Test career.
Throughout his Test, he has batted in different positions for the team’s cause. In a total of 54 Tests Rahul has played, he has opened the batting (1 and 2) in 46 matches. Out of the 78 innings in 46 Tests as opener, Rahul has gone on to score below 40 runs on 55 occasions — 20 runs or less 40 times.
On 15 occasions, Rahul has had the starts and has gone past the 20-run mark but dismissed under the 40-run mark.
In the matches that Rahul has been dismissed between 20-40 runs, he has been a watchful starter and has 592 dot balls to his name and a dot-ball percentage of 74.2.
Playing the new ball in the manner it should be played, Rahul has negated it really well but the lapses in concentration have resulted in him getting dismissed even after seeing off the tough starting period.
In the first innings of the Adelaide Test as well, Rahul played a total of 64 balls, leaving most of them outside the channel of the off-stump but eventually fell trying to do the same against Starc. Even while batting at No.3 or below, Rahul has had the problem of not making it big after getting his eyes in.

In the 16 innings, batting at No.3 or below, Rahul has been dismissed for under 40 on 12 occasions where 10 times his score has been below 20. In the range of 20-40 run mark, Rahul has been dismissed twice
Overall, Rahul averages 34.26 in 54 Tests and has 3,084 runs under his belt at 8 centuries and 16 fifties. There have been some brilliant starts in his career but the average of under 35 means not many of those have been converted into big ones.