KL Rahul: The weapon in the arsenal of Virat Kohli that he must use more often

The 26 year old drummer is the perfect player for a captain like Kohli who is mbadively focused on form and sets new standards for his teammates. (Reuters)

Before the start of the T20I series against England, there were concerns as to how a KL Rahul fit will be included in the XI game of India. Captain Virat Kohli found an answer by retrograding himself in the batters' order and drafting his former RCB teammate at number 3. The move paid off as Rahul hit his second century T20I and helped him out. India to beat England by 8 wickets. KL Rahul exploited good batting conditions and broke a well-designed century to settle the debate around his place in the Indian team.

The 26-year-old drummer is the perfect player for a captain like Kohli and sets new standards for his teammates. Rahul's determination is what makes him different from others. He made his debut at the 2014-2015 Border Gavaskar series in play conditions.

This was the same series that drew the curtains to the Test Quarry of former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Rahul had a start to forget as he failed miserably in his first test in Melbourne by scoring one and two in both sets. With the series already lost, coaches and skipper Kohli decided to try Rahul at his first usual try at the Sydney Test. He had a dramatic redemption in Sydney and made his way up to a patient century with 110 deliveries out of 262.

He announced himself at the highest level during limited tours of the Zimbabwe and the West Indies in mid-2016. Resulting from a good IPL season where he had scored 397 points in 14 games at an average of 44.11, Rahul scored a century in ODI as well as T20Is. In fact, he is the third Indian player after Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma to score a T20I century.

In the recently concluded IPL, he scored 659 points at a strike rate of nearly 160. Out of the shadows of Virat Kohli and AB Devillers, Rahul took the central spot for Kings XI Punjab and repaid the faith entrusted to him by crushing the fifty fastest in the first match of his new franchise.

Despite these brilliant performances, it is unfortunate that Rahul cemented his place in the national camp. But, that's how Indian cricket works. With Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan at the top and Kohli at three, it's hard for any opener to break into the XI final.

However, with age and the confidence of the captain on his side, Rahul has a long and brilliant career ahead of him