Experienced campaigner KL Rahul turned out to be the impact player for India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Demoted to no.6 but given a specific role by the head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma, Rahul excelled as the finisher. In the nervy run chases against Australia in semifinal and New Zealand in final, Rahul stayed till the end to ensure there was no anti-climax. Impressed with Rahul's stellar run in the tournament, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said that Rahul's only enemy is his 'own state of mind' and not the bowler. Manjrekar recalled the ODI World Cup 2023 final against Australia when Rahul went into a shell and ended up on the losing side despite a half-century.
"Very important for him because he was carrying that bogey of that final where he played a little slowly. He had that very candid interview where he said that it haunted him, hurt him. And to have these two innings - what I loved about him was the state of mind when he was chasing. He looked very comfortable," Manjrekar said.
"The only enemy that KL Rahul has is not the bowler but his own state of mind. And he looked very relaxed and he was very happy to just carry on. He has the big shots at his beck and call. So, all that was great to see," the 59-year-old added.
Earlier, Manjrekar had questioned Rahul's place in the Test side on the Australia tour for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. In the absence of skipper Rohit, Rahul did well as an opener alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. Recently, Rahul had also expressed that he likes to bat at the top of the order but is happy with the role he has been given now. Amidst calls to include Rishabh Pant who warmed the benches in the Champions Trophy 2025, Rahul scored 140 runs from four innings, remaining unbeaten on three occassions.
Rahul admits he was nervous in the run chase
In the final, Rahul remained not out for 34 in the run chase. After India won the game by four wickets, Rahul revealed that he was very nervous in the middle, unlike his calm demeanour that assured the dressing room.
"I don't think I can say this on camera, but I was s****ing myself at the end. But we still had a couple of batters to come, so I was confident that we could get over the line. But in moments like this and big games, it's more about holding your composure, which we all know about. Yeah, happy to win this and happy to get over the line this time," Rahul told the broadcasters after the final.
Rahul's ODI numbers are staggering. He has scored 3,043 runs from 79 innings averaging just over 49. He has seven centuries and 18 fifties to his name in the format.