It’s Australia versus West Indies in the Caribbean tri-series final. In a virtual semifinal South Africa meekly surrendered to the hosts by 100 runs in Barbados. After their World T20 triumph in India the hosts have shown incredible resilience to reach another final and the Australian captain acknowledged the challenge in the final.

Smith agreed that Marlon Samuels is the batsman in form and he’s especially played really well against them. George Bailey spoke about the Australian’s exciting batting line up with Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh again amongst runs. Smith admitted that Starc might have been inconsistent in the series as he is coming back from an injury layoff but he’s getting better with every match.

West Indies beat Australia by by four wickets with 26 balls to spare at Warner Park, St Kitts. Put into bat, Australia scored 265 for 7 with Usman Khawaja (98), Steve Smith (74) and George Bailey (55) all scoring half-centuries.

In reply, the hosts knocked off the runs for the loss of six wickets with Marlon Samuels scoring a handsome 92.

Australia still head the table with two wins from four matches plus a bonus point. The West Indies also have two wins but from three games. And South Africa have one win from three matches, that came with a bonus point.

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Australia’s 36-run win against South Africa was marred by news of David Warner’s injury. The Australian opener has suffered a fracture to his left index finger while fielding during the tri-series match in St Kitts.

Australian captain Steve Smith said that David’s injury will keep him out of the rest of the tournament that is due to conclude with the final in Barbados on 26th June. But he sounded confident that Warner will be fit for the Qantas tour of Sri Lanka that gets underway next month.

Before the confirmation to the fracture the Australia batsman spoke with the media after collecting the player of the match award for his innings of 109 that helped his side in winning the match against South Africa. Warner spoke about his injury and also how spending less time at the nets is the secret to his batting success.

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Having watched cricket all my life, I find no reasons to follow the game religiously the way I used to. Too much cricket, watched enough for an entire lifetime already; no longer part of a news set-up so no need to follow the game; players of today’s generation are not like a Rahul Dravid or a Sachin Tendulkar.

But along comes a player every now and then, who makes you want him to do well, makes you switch off the TV set once he gets out, makes you spend hours watching the game you thought you had fallen out with.

Kannaur Lokesh Rahul’s batting and the way he carries himself makes you do just that. The technique and time he has while playing against the fast bowlers, the innovation he has added to his batting while playing the shorter format of the game, his ground fielding and wicket keeping ability has all added to his charisma. His Test average of only 25.69 may not do justice to Rahul’s immense batting talent, but he showed enough class and poise while scoring his first Test hundred in just the second Test match of his life.

He returns from Zimbabwe as India’s best batsman with scores of 100, 33, 63, 0, 47, 22 in the ODIs and T20s. And in all likelihood could retain his Team India place in the limited overs game.

Centuries for KL Rahul in both Test and ODI

Most deserving youngster to make the grade

You also take heart from the fact that his selection to the Test squad was not because of any fluke performance in the IPL, though he did have a decent IPL season playing for Pune Sunrisers in 2014. His selection was mainly due to some outstanding batting in the domestic circuit.

In the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy, the Karnataka batsman topped the batting charts for his side by scoring more than 1000 runs and was also declared the Man of the Match in the final. Rahul played a big part in winning the Ranji Trophy title that season for Karnataka. He didn’t stop there. In the Duleep Trophy final the same year playing for South Zone against the Central Zone, Rahul scored centuries in both the innings – 185 off 233 in the first and 130 off 152 in the second. No selection committee could have ignored such sheer numbers so he got to make his Test debut at the age of 22.

Domestic performances getting rewarded will go a long way in motivating aspiring cricketers and giving life to the neglected Ranji Trophy.

After coming back from the Australian tour, Rahul went onto score a historic triple century (337), the first Karnataka batsman to achieve the feat in Ranji Trophy. His feat was later replicated by teammate Karun Nair, who scored 328 against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy final next year.

The Making of KL Rahul

Rahul has gone for a complete makeover. And I’m not talking about his long hair and beard look. Not so long back he was dismissed as a Test specialist only but success in the IPL this year and now a century on ODI debut against Zimbabwe (the first Indian to do so) has added a new dimension to India’s batting.

His IPL success and love for tattoos (he now sports seven tattoos) have added to his fan following. And tweets like these are making new fans join the ranks each day – 
@rahulkl“My body is my journal ,and My tattoos are my story “

Not only cricket, Rahul is a sports fan

Rahul played other sports while growing up and he has kept the interest going as you can clearly see from his tweeted pictures.

KL Rahul playing tennis & football

No doubt he has all the credentials to be a crowd puller off the field, like his Test and IPL captain Virat Kohli. And now with a century on his one-day international debut – there’s no stopping this young man from Karnataka. No doubt he will have to show consistency, curb his strokes at beginning of an innings. But with age on his side and the ability to adapt to all three formats, it will be well worth watching Rahul’s cricketing journey.

By Rajesh Sahu

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As the Australian cricket team gets ready to begin their tri-series campaign in West Indies, opening batsman Aaron Finch sounded the warning bells to their opponents. Ahead of their first match against the hosts, Finch had no qualms in declaring themselves as firm favourites for the tournament. South Africa are the third team in the tournament. The Aussie hard hitting batsman also showered praises on the team’s vice captain David Warner for his stupendous show at the recently concluded Indian Premier League.

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Australian captain Steve Smith celebrated his 27th birthday in Guyana ahead of the tri-series in in West Indies. South Africa is the other team in the tournament. Team members of all three countries attended a welcome ceremony in Guyana where birthday boy Steve Smith cuts a cake to celebrate the occasion. In the first match in the tournament hosts West Indies taken on South Africa on 3rd June.

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