ICC World Cup 2023: Rahul’s rare trait!

India’s Virat Kohli (right) and KL Rahul after the win over Bangladesh at MCA International Stadium in Pune on Thursday. Pic/Getty Images

Thursday was a night to remember for KL Rahul. The one-time all-format vice-captain, who now figures only in the 50-over scheme of things, was terrific behind the stumps with the highlight being a flying left-handed catch to account for Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and excellent in front of it, but it is in his exhortation of Virat Kohli to go for his hundred that his leadership and one-for-all, all-for-one credentials shone through.

Rahul in fine touch

The Indian think-tank gave Rahul the longest of ropes to recover from thigh surgery in May and he hit his straps immediately upon his reintegration with the side, at the Asia Cup in Colombo last month. Rahul has extended the form he showed in Sri Lanka to the World Cup, his beautifully crafted unbeaten 97 kicking off India's winning streak against Australia in Chennai when, chasing 200 for victory, India slumped to two for three.

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He wasn't required to do too much thereafter with the bat; against Bangladesh at the MCA International Stadium, he remained unbeaten on a run-a-ball 34 during a stand of 83 with Kohli (103 not out off 97 balls), but it was towards the end of that association that his role became pivotal. Victory was a foregone conclusion; the big question was whether Kohli would break an eight-and-a-half-year drought for a World Cup hundred. It was touch and go, until Rahul told Kohli to not worry about optics and merely focus on getting to his century. With India needing 19 for victory, Kohli was on 81. Always putting team above self, Kohli set off for an easy single, only to be turned back by Rahul, who didn't want his former captain to miss out on a deserving 48th ton.

"He was confused, actually," Rahul told the host broadcaster of Kohli. "He said, ‘It will not look nice to not take a single. It's still the World Cup, still a big stage. So, I don't want to look like I want to get to that milestone'.

"I said we will still win this quite easily. So, if you can get to the milestone, why not? You must try."

A grateful Kohli didn't dawdle, finishing off the match with a flurry of boundaries, the last of which - a towering six over mid-wicket off left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed - took him to within one of Sachin Tendulkar's all-time high 49 ODI tons and took India to a fourth straight victory.

Hysteric crowd in Pune

That the crowd agreed with Rahul's suggestion was evident from the hysteria that greeted Kohli's winning six. There is a reason why Rahul is held in high esteem among his colleagues, and that extends beyond his silken touch with the bat and assured work behind the stumps. Empathy is a rare trait in professional sport and while, on the face of it, that might not win matches, it surely is worth a lot more than victory and defeat.