| There were few dissenting voices when, after a two-year struggle, Rahul was dropped for the series against South Africa in 2019. In that series, the openers Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal smashed five centuries, three of them huge, in only eight innings. Such series are not the norm. The 2000s were an excellent time to open the batting in Tests, but it has since gone back to being the hardest gig in batting. Statistically, the 2020s are the toughest decade for openers since the 1900s. And while it doesn’t tell the whole story, one comparison suggests Rahul may not have done too badly. In the 61 Tests he has played, the other Indian openers – Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit, Dhawan and the rest – have a combined average of 37.55. That’s 0.6 better than Rahul when he joins them at the top. Just as Peter Willey played 15 of his 26 Tests against the West Indies’ four horsemen, so Rahul’s excellence in tough conditions has probably counted against him. A startling 48% of his Tests have been in Sena countries (the abbreviation for South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia, usually the toughest tours for subcontinental batters). Seven of his 10 Test hundreds have also been scored in those games. There should be more to come. At 33, Rahul looks like a man who has worked it out. Marriage and fatherhood have made him more relaxed about cricket. He is also less vulnerable to the psychological self-harm of social media and rolling opinion after making a conscious decision to change his habits. “Since then,” he said, “my life has been more peaceful.” On the 2018 tour of England, Rahul was a walking wicket; seven years later he is more of a walking epiphany. He didn’t shy away from the conflict when the Lord’s Test threatened to turn nuclear, but he looked more detached – even amused – than the rest. He wears his seniority well. In a new, young India team, Rahul has gone from underachiever to Zen uncle. Cricket has umpteen stories of supreme talents who finally worked it out at the back end of their careers, from Carl Hooper and Justin Langer to Graham Gooch and his mentor Ken Barrington. At the start of 1990, Gooch had an unbecoming average of 36.90. Five run-kissed years later, when he retired, it was 42.58. Right now, in July 2025, there are lies, damned lies and KL Rahul’s Test average. But it’s not too late for the truth to emerge. Less could be more with over-rates The football World Cup of 1990 – known in most cultures, if not cricket newsletters, as Italia 90 – had some unforgettably dramatic matches. Colombia 2-0 United Arab Emirates or Republic of Ireland 0-0 Egypt were not among them. But they were among the most significant games of the whole tournament, precisely because they were so forgettable. The brazen negativity and time-wasting on show broke the camel’s back, or rather Fifa’s tolerance of the back pass. As football became more cynical, so teams exploited the ancient law that allowed them to faff around and waste time, risking nothing more serious than a mild loss of dignity. The law was changed two years later and football became infinitely more watchable. The Lord’s Test of 2025 could have a dual legacy, as both a classic match and a gamechanger. Attitudes against slow over-rates and unnecessary stoppages have been hardening for a while. But the second day, when a risible 72.3 overs were bowled in six and a half hours, felt like the moment weariness gave way to anger and intolerance. | 
KL Rahul joins Carl Hooper and Graham Gooch in looking like a man who has finally worked it out in the latter stages of his career. Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA 
