After a whitewash in a three-match T20I series, the Indian team is set to take on Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series, which will begin from August 2nd at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. We will see some big names returning in the 50-over format for India.
One of the players that the fans will look up to in the ODI series against Sri Lanka is KL Rahul. The wicketkeeper-batter has been India’s main batter in ODI in the last few years. Rahul will be playing an ODI match for India for the first time since December 2023.
KL Rahul has been a key player for India in the 50-over format. He also had a great campaign in the 2023 ODI World Cup where he amassed 452 runs in 11 matches at an average of 75.33. Notably, Rahul will be seen playing in the middle in the upcoming series. However, he started his ODI career as an opener but later went on to bat at number five in the 50-over format.
KL Rahul ODI stats while batting in middle-order
KL Rahul came as a promising youngster when he started playing for India. He announced his arrival with a century in his debut ODI match for India against Zimbabwe in 2016. However, Rahul didn’t get many chances to open in ODIs for India as Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were the first choices for the top two batting positions.
Later, the management tried KL Rahul in the middle-order, mostly at number five, which turned out to be a successful experiment for India in the ODI format. Coming to bat in the last 15-20 overs, KL Rahul used to bat with a highest strike rate and helped the Indian team to post a big total after the end of 50 overs.
In the last few years, KL Rahul has become a dependable middle-order in ODIs for India, and has provided more stability to the India batting line up. There were also few occasions where KL Rahul had to come to bat early in the innings after India lost their big players in quick successions. Rahul has saved India from collapses in these situations many times and also went on to finish the game for Men in Blue.
Batting in the middle order also resulted in the higher strike for KL Rahul in the ODIs. The right–hander has a strike rate of 95.45 while batting at number five in ODIs, compared to the strike rate of 78.61 while opening the innings.
Have a look at stats of KL Rahul batting number five in ODIs:
