When there is India’s best fielder in the deep – KL Rahul, things are certainly bound to happen – as brilliantly as it did in the ongoing encounter. England’s opener Jos Buttler walked down and pumped the ball to the stands, or at least by the looks before Rahul hung mid-air and saved a certain six.
Having witnessed Nicholas Pooran in close quarters, in the KXIP outfit, KL Rahul seemed to have really taken his fielding efforts into his stride. After a horrendous batting effort, where the right-hander never looked comfortable, with a 4-ball 1, he put out one of the best fielding efforts in an Indian jersey in recent times, after Sanju Samson. Especially after Rishabh Pant took over the gloves from the opener, he had to do his duty in the field, this time in the deep boundary.
After England really took off in their run-chase, where they were both fast and furious, Indian skipper Virat Kohli entrusted Axar Patel to do the job, after his tidy first over, where he just gave away three runs. However, in the second over, it looked like he was going to replicate his first over before Buttler said enough was enough, as he charged down the ground to find the fence.
At a brisk pace, the ball was travelling, it looked almost like it had reached the lap of the spectator group in the Narendra Modi Stadium. However, it didn’t, thanks to one of the best fielding efforts from KL Rahul, the man who seemingly did the impossible. After the ball had crossed him, Rahul put on a spectacular dive and leapt as high as his promises and not only pulled the ball back but saved four crucial runs for the Men in Blue. Hats off, Rahul, with or without the gloves, proving that he is one of the best fielders in the Indian outfit.
