India vs England: THIS is the secret behind KL Rahul's exceptional form in the series

The England tour was touted to be a massive challenge for an Indian Test side that has just opened the doors of transition. For an Asian team, having such major changes before an overseas tour is never easy, more so when a young captain is thrust into the battlefield. However, India have put on an incredible show in the five-match series and going into the last two days of the series, have a realistic shot at ending the series 2-2. If the visitors had capitalised on the crunch moments at Lord's, it could have been a completely different story.

 

One of the major reasons for India's impressive show has been the consistency of their senior man KL Rahul. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli having retired recently, it meant that the Karnataka man was effectively the senior-most player among the specialist batters. To his credit, he displayed the required maturity in the series, tallying 532 runs with two tons and as many fifties. Rahul ended as India's second-highest run scorer in the series, only behind skipper Shubman Gill's 754.

 

So, what made Rahul tick? The 33-year-old has been in impressive form in red-ball cricket since his comeback in 2021 but the consistency on this England tour has been on another level. More than the runs he has made, the solid platform he has provided has been critical in English conditions, allowing India's middle-order to breathe easy. Abhishek Nayar, who has was formerly involved in India's coaching staff and is also known to work individually with several players, hailed Rahul's pre-series preparation.

 

"I can't talk about the changes that I've seen in KL Rahul. I can't, because then it's out there and the effectiveness goes down a lot," Nayar, the head coach of Women's Premier League team UP Warriorz, told PTI in an exclusive interview.

 

"All I can say is that, whatever the changes are, they have really worked. Sometimes -- (and) I always say in a cricketer's journey and in a team's journey -- things need to click. You need a bit of the rub of the green. I think he's had that as well."

 

There was a different feel to Rahul's body language at the crease, right from IPL 2025 where he donned multiple batting roles for his new franchise Delhi Capitals. Formerly captain of Lucknow Super Giants, he had opted to go to the mega auction after alleged dissatisfaction with the franchise and in his first season for DC, Rahul ended as their top-scorer for the season with 539 runs at a strike rate of approximately 150. Even while he was managing himself in the fast-paced T20 format, Rahul's eyes were inevitably on the England tour, especially with the retirements of Kohli and Rohit. So much so that he was ready to hit the ground running for red-ball preparation as soon as his IPL season ended.

 

"He has worked very, very hard. There are a very, very few people who know this that after the birth of his child he was in the IPL (and) he came back immediately," he said.

 

"He started preparing for the (England) Test series while a lot of people wouldn't have done that. He knew the the importance of this series, he understood it."

 

"And every minute post the last game that he played in the IPL, was about how he can do well in this Test series, so it's great to see him do well there and get the recognition that he rightly deserves being the guy who's done all the dirty jobs and still managed to perform at every every number in that batting order," he added.

 

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