Has KL Rahul Become Virat Kohlis Good Luck Charm in Cricket?

ByAnupam Pandey,SportsCafe Editor

Today at 3:17 PM

KL Rahul could be termed as the good luck charm for Virat Kohli. As he returned to captaincy against South Africa, Kohli finally found his rhythm back. In the first ODI, Virat was able to win the POTM award as he scored his 52nd ODI century.

A player can also be a good charm for the other, and this has been the case between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. With Rahul leading India, Kohli has always been able to do well for the Indian team and deliver his best. This was also seen by the fans when Kohli in the first ODI against South Africa.

Under his captaincy, this is yet another ton brought up by Virat Kohli. It should also be noted that Virat Kohli ended his 71st century wait when KL Rahul was the captain of the Indian team. With India still having to play two more ODIs with Rahul as the captain, will we see Kohli unleash his inner beast in the home games or not?

1. Virat Kohli in Rahul's Captaincy

KL Rahul has captained India for just a few games in the ODI format. But it can be said that he has been the lucky charm for Kohli, as Kohli gets his average improved whenever Rahul is the captain. It should be noted that Virat Kohli has a higher average when he plays ODI games under KL Rahul, rather than playing under his own captaincy.

Virat Kohli in ODIs under KL Rahul:

Innings: 5
Not Out: 0
Runs: 364
Average: 72.80
Strike Rate: 100.27
100s: 2
50s: 2

Rahul returned to captaincy after a long time, as he captains India in the ODI series against South Africa. Shubman Gill is the Indian skipper in the ODI format, while Shreyas Iyer has been the vice captain. But due to the injuries, both of them have been out of action for the ODI series

Due to this reason, the BCCI decided to announce KL Rahul as the stand-in captain of the team. With Rahul leading the team for the entire series, Kohli still has two more games to showcase his worth to the Indian team. He already has received the POTM award in the first game, and this shows that the stars are aligning again for Virat Kohli.

2. Kohli Ended ODI Century Drought

Virat Kohli had been going through a tough period which started with COVID-19. He was not able to score centuries for the Indian team, which started to get over him. Even questions were raised on his position in the Indian team. But Virat Kohli decided to answer them all, with some assistance from KL Rahul. In the ODI format, Rahul led India in the Bangladesh tour as a stand-in captain.

Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo

And Ishan Kishan also received an opportunity to play for the Indian team in this game. The match was being played at Chattogram, and fans had been waiting for Kohli to bring up his 44th ODI century. By that time, it had been more than 1200 days since Virat Kohli had scored a century in his favourite format of the game.

But with Rahul as the captain, he broke the jinx of not scoring a ton. In the match against Bangladesh, Kohli went on to score 113 runs for the Indian team in just 91 balls, with 11 fours and 2 sixes. He didn't receive the POTM award, as the match belonged to Ishan Kishan who brought up his first ever double century in the 50 over format.

3. Breaking Records on Captain Rahul's Return

KL Rahul returned to lead the Indian team once again as a stand-in captain in the ODI series against South Africa. It was almost three years since Rahul had last led India in this format. And it also became the time when Virat Kohli decided to break some records and in the game.

In the first ODI, Kohli went on to score 135 runs in just 120 balls, which helped India to post down a massive total of 349 runs. His innings included 11 fours and 7 sixes, as fans even saw Virat Kohli play like it is the T20 format, after he had just completed his century. They even waited to see if Kohli could score a double century in this game, but he was dismissed with Ryan Rickelton

However, Virat Kohli was still able to break some records under the captaincy of KL Rahul. He brought up his 52nd ODI century, which made him the batsman with most centuries in any format of the game. Earlier, he tied for this record with Sachin Tendulkar, who had scored 51 centuries in the Test format.