Watch: KL Rahul's acrobatic effort to prevent a six in the 1st T20I
KL Rahul might be considered a better asset for Team India behind the stumps. However, that doesn't take away from the brilliant fielder that he is.
With Rishabh Pant coming back into the side in the first T20I against England, KL Rahul was relieved of his keeping duties. This provided Rahul with the opportunity to display his acrobatic fielding skills.
In the fifth over of the England innings, KL Rahul was fielding at long-off. The first ball of the over bowled by Axar Patel was smashed straight down the ground by Jos Buttler.
Even though he didn't get to the pitch of the ball, Buttler hit it well enough and it looked as if it would carry over the ropes comfortably. However, KL Rahul had other plans.
Rahul leapt up in the air and managed to trap the ball in his hands. However, he was off balance by then and was falling over the boundary ropes. KL Rahul kept his presence of mind to throw the ball back into the field of play, preventing a boundary.
KL Rahul fails to deliver with the bat in his first outing after three months
KL Rahul hasn't taken to the field since the T20I series against Australia in December last year. He was warming the bench in the 1st Test against Australia and was left out of the team for the following three Tests.
Rahul was a part of the squad for all four Test matches against England at home. However, with the intense competition for places in the team, Rahul failed to feature in any of these four matches.
As Rahul has excelled in the T20 format, there was no doubt about him making a comeback into the starting eleven. However, KL Rahul got out in the second over of the game to Jofra Archer after scoring just 1 run.
Batting first, India could only put up just 124 runs on the board in 20 overs. The chase was a cakewalk for England, who reached the target in 15.3 overs with 8 wickets to spare.