Navjot Singh Sidhu labelled KL Rahul as a “spare tyre” who comes to use wherever and whenever a tough situation arises. While the comment had its humorous side, if we dissect it, it wasn’t something wrong. KL Rahul has always been India’s crisis man. He started his career as a middle-order batter in Tests but has played across five different positions. In ODIs, that number goes to seven. So basically, Rahul has been an opener, top-order batter, middle-order constructor, and a designated finisher. You name it and the Karnataka lad has done it. Yet, he tends to bear the brunt from critics always and isn’t touted as the first name on the team sheet.
Axar Patel has pushed KL Rahul to an unlikely spot
In the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, KL Rahul has been demoted to number six. He initially accustomed himself as a number five batter to either resurrect an innings or to provide an impetus when needed. But now under Gautam Gambhir’s tutelage, Rahul’s role has been changed. He bats lower down the order behind Axar Patel, who adds a variety of left-handedness. With Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer all being right-handers, Gambhir is adamant about adding a lefty to the fore.
That’s where Axar comes to the mix. Credit to him, the southpaw has done remarkably well. He has averaged 36.28 at the number, his personal best at a slot. He left-handedness would be needed in the high-profile final clash as well, especially to cater the Mitchell Santner effect. Axar has often saved the Indian team out of trouble and he is basically undroppable at the moment. But at the same time, Rahul’s role has been massively diminished. The star batter, who struck 1060 runs at 66.25, has hammered just 158 runs after six appearances in 2025 so far.
KL Rahul: Wasted talent at 6
KL Rahul, the batter, likes to bide some time at the crease before going aggressive. But at sixth position, he often doesn’t get enough time to settle in. Hence, his ceiling hasn’t been touched and some pundits also believes that the new Delhi Capitals (DC) star has been wasted in ODIs.
Post the ICC Champions Trophy, what lies ahead of KL Rahul? Well, Gambhir loves having the left-right combination in white-ball and we imagine he would continue to use the ploy after the mega ICC event as well. As far as ODIs are concerned, KL Rahul has a spot competition with Rishabh Pant, who edges Rahul as he is a better keeper. Moreover, with Pant being a left-hander, you might just see him donning the gloves more often. It was Rahul’s tremendous run at number five in 2023 that has kept him in the hunt for a place.
Pant over Rahul post Champions Trophy?
However, Gambhir might just look to add variety and see what Pant does in a format that he is yet to crack. As a Test batter, Rahul is surely a Mr. Fixit. He opened when Rohit Sharma wasn’t available and did superbly during the Border Gavaskar Trophy. But in the 50-over format, he might see another decline of his. Despite making his debut in ODIs back in 2016, almost a decade back, it was during the semifinal when Rahul completed his 3,000 ODI runs. Considering the immense talent he has and the supernatural ability to play according to the situation, you would expect a player of his caliber to rule the roost every time. But the current setup might just not allow him to flourish and operate at his best.
KL Rahul stats in ODIs since 2020
| Year | Inn | Runs | Balls | Outs | Avg | SR | HS | 50 | 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 9 | 443 | 417 | 8 | 55.4 | 106.2 | 112 | 3 | 1 |
| 2021 | 3 | 177 | 175 | 2 | 88.5 | 101.1 | 108 | 1 | 1 |
| 2022 | 9 | 251 | 313 | 9 | 27.9 | 80.2 | 73 | 2 | 0 |
| 2023 | 24 | 1,060 | 1,208 | 16 | 66.2 | 87.7 | 111 | 7 | 2 |
| 2024 | 2 | 31 | 45 | 2 | 15.5 | 68.9 | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 6 | 158 | 162 | 4 | 39.5 | 97.5 | 42 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 78 | 3,009 | 3,418 | 62 | 48.5 | 88.0 | 112 | 18 | 7 |
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