KL Rahul healed a part of the wound that is still open and leaking after the 2023 ODI World Cup final with an unbeaten 42 off just 34 balls to finish off the game against Australia. India chased down 265 in a hard-fought semi-final to get through their third consecutive Champions Trophy final.
KL Rahul had his moment in the sun, rather Dubai moon, to shine after taking India to the Champions Trophy final with a winning six against Australia in the semi-final on Tuesday, March 4. Rahul, who has had to face enough and more questions and constant scrutiny over his place, justified his spot with an unbeaten 42 off 34 while taking the game to the Australian bowlers as Steve Smith and Co just didn’t concede the match that easily.
Adam Zampa and Nathan Ellis posed enough challenge for Indian batters to take 48.1 overs to chase the score of 265 down but Rahul didn’t let Australia dictate tactics once he had played a few balls. Rahul let a roar out after hoisting a Glenn Maxwell delivery over deep mid-wicket for a six before he hugged Ravindra Jadeja in delight. But there was another person who hugged Rahul in the moment and the Indian wicketkeeper-batter didn’t realise at that point whom he actually shared the embrace with.
It was a pitch invader, a fan who defied security to get to share the winning moment with Rahul, who just finished the game for India. Rahul, however, obliged the fan and hugged him before the security personnel also came running and eventually got him. The video of the moment has gone viral on the internet.
Watch the video here:
Rahul was content with his effort as it was a collective batting performance from India to get the run-chase done with Virat Kohli holding one end up. Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Rahul and Hardik Pandya all of them played around him to see their side through. Earlier, Australia riding on skipper Steve Smith’s crucial 73 and Alex Carey‘s quickfire 61 got to 264 but just needed to get 20-30 more to put on a challenging score.
As it turned out, it was Smith’s final ODI match for Australia as the two-time champions exited the tournament in the semis.
