Prime. Every athlete enters it. KL Rahul is in the midst of that golden period of his career. He’s rediscovered himself as a T20 batter, as evident for the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. Rahul’s back as India’s Test opener, with consistent performances home and away.
New-found consistency
But it’s been ODI cricket where he’s been at his dominant best. Rahul’s overall record is marvellous. He averages over 50. But it’s been the middle-order move that has started it all. Towards the end of 2022, he was pushed to that position. Since then, Rahul hasn’t looked back.
Cut & Pull!KL Rahul shows his full range as he gathers boundaries on both sides of the wicket.#TeamIndia #INDvNZ #2ndODI @IDFCfirstbank | @klrahul pic.twitter.com/jWj1cpuryw
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 14, 2026While he’s batted in the middle order before, he was sent to play at number five. His role was clear: consolidate when required and finish when needed. Rahul’s always been a flexible batter. He’s been moved around in the batting order, across formats, his whole career.
That’s why he was ready when Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid handed him the gloves and told him to play the play. And boy has he aced it. As we speak, Rahul averages nearly 65 at the position since he started regularly donning it in 2023. Time and again, he’s done the job for India.
KL Rahul’s dual role as saviour & destroyer in Rajkot
ODI World Cup 2023 and Champions Trophy 2025 were the prime examples. To arrest a collapse and provide a final flourish, Rahul has done both. In the India vs New Zealand 2nd ODI, we saw Rahul do the former. With Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer all departing in quick succession, India needed someone who could take them to a respectable total.
And there was no one better than Rahul to do that. From 118/4 in the 24th over, Rahul stitched a 73-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja and a 57-run stand with Nitish Kumar Reddy by the end of the 47th over. During this period, India lost 2 wickets and scored over 132 runs.
Mind you, Jadeja and Nitish scored just 47 runs during this period. It was Rahul who did the heavy lifting. His strike rate never dropped. After the fall of Kohli to Nitish’s dismissal, Rahul scored 82 from 72. That’s what you want from your number five: to anchor the side and continue accelerating. There’s a handful of batters who can succeed, and perhaps AB de Villiers is the only one who’s better than Rahul at it.
A magnificent CENTURY comes up from KL Rahul : JioHotstar #INDvsNZ #ODIs #Rajkot #Insidesport #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/LzuUXYglgJ
— InsideSport (@InsideSportIND) January 14, 2026After Nitish departed, Rahul didn’t have any support from the other end. It looked like 280 to 300 was possible when the all-rounder was batting, but from there, Rahul had to do the heavy lifting. The wicketkeeper batter aced that as well. With two boundaries to Kyle Jamieson in the 49th over, he brought up his 8th ODI hundred, 3rd at number five, from just 87 balls.
Rahul denied singles to Mohammed Siraj and smashed two more boundaries in the last over to end unbeaten on 112 (92) and take India to 282, a total that seemed impossible when Kohli went back to the pavillion in the 24th over.
KL Rahul’s record at No.5 in ODIs
InningsRunsAverageStrikeRate100s50s2017-202633147764.2199.593102023 onwards2092977.4195.0825KL Rahul emerges as India’s man of crisis again, hundred saves India from Rajkot mini-collapse Inside Sport India.
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