World Cup musings: Of Rahul, Kapil, and 2 fascinating shower tales
KL Rahul played a brilliant knock in the 2023 World Cup match against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday. The 31-year-old scored an unbeaten 97 off 115 balls as the Men in Blue won the clash by six wickets in 41.2 overs.
Chasing 200, Team India got off to a horror start, losing three wickets with only two runs on the board inside the first two overs. Ishan Kishan (0), skipper Rohit Sharma (0), and Shreyas Iyer (0) were back in the hut in a flash, leaving the Chepauk fans stunned.
Luckily, Rahul and Virat Kohli (85 off 116) featured in a brilliant fourth-wicket stand of 165 to ensure a comfortable victory for India in the end. After being named Player of the Match, Rahul revealed that he had just taken a shower and was hoping to put his feet up for some time.
It was quite an obvious reaction as no one expected India to be 2/3. Eventually, the batter had to rush out to bat, not long after he had finished keeping for 50 overs.
"There weren't a lot of conversations with Kohli. I had just taken a shower and was hoping to put my feet up for half an hour after the fielding innings, but I had to come in,” the 31-year-old said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Rahul struck eight fours and two sixes in his excellent knock, the second of the maximums also bringing up the winning runs for India.
Rahul’s shower story a throwback to Kapil’s 1983 epic
Rahul’s narration of what transpired before he went out to bat might just ring a bell for die-hard Indian cricket fans. During the 1983 World Cup match between India and Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells something similar happened.
On that occasion, India won the toss and elected to bat first. Skipper Kapil Dev, who was slated to bat at No. 6, decided to have a shower, thinking he wouldn’t be batting anytime soon. But, like Rahul, he too had to rush out. India were four down with only nine runs on the board, which soon became 17/5.
In an interview with Boria Majumdar for Economic Times in December 2021, Kapil recalled the bizarre hilarity of the situation and said:
“I felt I had time for a warm shower when the openers went out to bat. Who would have thought we'd be 9-4 and then 17-5 against Zimbabwe? When they called me in the bathroom, I honestly did not believe them and was angry. But then you all know what happened.”
Kapil ended up hammering a legendary 175* off 138 balls, clobbering 16 fours and six sixes. India recovered brilliantly to post 266/8 and bowled out Zimbabwe for 235, winning the clash by 31 runs.