KL Rahul Opens Up On India's 2027 World Cup Blueprint After Record-Breaking Knock
KL Rahul said his unbeaten 129 in the third ODI against the West Indies was as much about gaining valuable time in the middle as it was about the runs.
KL Rahul said his unbeaten 129 in the third ODI against the West Indies was as much about gaining valuable time in the middle as it was about the runs, with India using the bilateral series to sharpen their plans for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027. Speaking after India's 2-1 series win, Rahul said the long innings was important as he continues to work on the demands of batting in the middle order ahead of next year's global tournament.
Rahul's century came in a match India eventually lost as the West Indies chased down 352, denying the hosts a series clean sweep. Despite that disappointment, the wicketkeeper-batter saw value in spending an extended period at the crease, particularly after limited opportunities to construct a long ODI innings from the middle order earlier this year.
"Happy to have scored 129 runs but disappointed that we couldn't clean sweep the series. Had we done that, then the happiness level would have been at its peak. Nonetheless, I wanted to spend more time with the bat out there in the middle, and the last time I really got to bat for a long duration in ODI cricket in the middle order was in early January this year against New Zealand. Since then, I haven't really got a lot of time to play a long innings.
"And next year is a big one, with the World Cup starting in October, so it's important for me to get valuable batting time because off the field I'm trying a few things and I want to test that in the game. Only then will you know whether the work that you're putting in behind the scenes is working or not, or what I need to do differently. So yeah, it was important for me to get some batting time, so I'm happy about that," Rahul told JioStar.
The innings also offered Rahul an opportunity to work on one of the more demanding aspects of his current role. Having spent much of his career at the top of the order, the batter has had to adapt to conditions that can become increasingly difficult for middle-order players as an ODI innings progresses. He pointed specifically to the behaviour of the older ball and the difficulties it can create for batters attempting to attack in the final overs.
"It's very different, but I've been doing this role for the last 6-7 years. In the last year and a half, since the ball-change rule has come into effect, it's been very different. It's not been easy to get 80-90 runs in the last 10 overs. The ball has been reversing, and even in this game, once the ball got old and soft and started to reverse, as a batter you don't feel confident enough to take on the long-on and deep mid-wicket fielders if it's a big boundary on that side.
"I've always batted at the top of the order, and I like the hard ball coming onto me because I can use the pace. So that's something I've been working on, trying to play with softer, older balls and being able to hit sixes with them. That's something I've worked on. I constantly try to get better within my own game, understand my role, and understand what a number five and number six batter has to do to consistently put up performances for the team," he added.
The 2027 World Cup remains more than a year away, but Rahul said the current series are already providing the match situations needed to test India's plans and personnel.
"All these series on the road to the World Cup are a good opportunity to get some game time in the middle. We don't want to go too far away from the plan but also experiment a little bit as a batting unit. The goal so far has been about whether we can score 330-340 while batting first, but we're seeing that 340s and 350s get chased down very easily in one-day cricket. So how can batters, once set, keep pressing on and get 370s and 380s, or push for 400 on a given day?
"The minute we as middle-order batters go in, the aim is to ensure that we do not take too much time to get going, start rotating the strike and keep finding a boundary every six or seven balls. Also, we were missing key players like Bumrah and Axar, so it gave us a chance to try other players. The coach and captain have been very clear on the personnel they want to bring in. They want to give a longer rope to certain players whom we feel might be important for the World Cup," he said.
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India Cricket Team
West Indies Cricket Team
KL Rahul