Almost out of the blue, KL Rahul has graduated from being simply a highly-talented role-player in India’s teams across formats to one of its senior statesmen, a leader of the batting attack with seniority now attached to his position and his expectations. At 32 years old and with his long-time teammates Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retiring from Test cricket, the versatile and capable Rahul continues to adapt to what his team needs from him most.
In 2025, he seems to have flicked a switch: now almost guaranteed to start Test matches as an opener, he began the tour of England with two fine innings, including a stylish century in the second innings in Leeds. In the ODI unit, Rahul was used as India’s number six, and showed remarkable temperament and skill as he took to that role like a duck to water in the successful ICC Champions Trophy campaign.
All this might not have been possible without the help of his captain Rohit Sharma and India’s then-assistant coach Abhishek Nayar during his brief stint with the team. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Nayar revealed that one of the key duties he was prescribed was to help KL Rahul elevate his game to the consistency and ability that was always there in flashes.
“When I first picked up that role, I remember I had a conversation with Rohit, and he said that one of the things he was really keen on me doing was working with KL and bringing out a more aggressive outlook to how KL played the game, and bringing the best out of him,” said Nayar, who served as coach when Gautam Gambhir took over the head coach position but was sacrificed after the BCCI’s inquest following a horror spell in Test cricket to start with 6 losses in 8 matches.
It certainly translated for Rahul, who showed off a few switches in technique that became clear in the knockout rounds of the Champions Trophy. Scores of 41* against Australia in the semifinal, followed by a nerve-settling 34* in the final against New Zealand, saw him score positively while remaining in total control — two parts of his game that Rahul has always possessed but previously failed to combine efficiently.
More than the scores themselves, the confidence with which Rahul took India home on both occasions spoke to a batter who had entered an excellent mental zone. On what exactly Nayar and Rahul worked on to achieve this, the coach held his cards close to his chest, but provided a fascinating glimpse.
“All I can tell you is, the way I’ve always tried to handle things is to first try and address the skill, and then use skill as a medium to address the mind. That’s as much as I can tell you in terms of details. It’s about using practice to give his mind reassurance with the plan that we have, and what he needs to do to execute it,” explained the former Mumbai batter.
His ‘aggressive outlook’ also bore results in the IPL, where he shone with his new franchise Delhi Capitals, scoring 539 runs at a strike-rate of 149. After some seasons seeing his strike-rate criticised, the latest version of Rahul showed a willingness to go big from the off, and took away his earlier tendency to fall into a shell.
