Karnataka batsman KL Rahul hasn’t been in the regular scheme of things for India since the final Test of the home series against Sri Lanka. Surprisingly, he wasn’t even included in the squad for the One-Day Internationals (ODI) series following the conclusion of the Tests.

However, he didn’t let his deserved selection in the Twenty20 International (T20I) squad go in vain as he kicked off the series with a superb knock of 61 runs off 48 deliveries in Cuttack that helped India to romp to a scintillating 93-run victory over the visitors. With this innings, he also showed why he deserves a regular outing in Indian colours at least in limited-over formats.

Six months back, he was one of the first names on the team sheet irrespective of formats. He was their first choice Test opener and a middle-order batting asset in limited-overs formats. He was on a streak of seven consecutive fifties in Tess till August this year and nine such scores in the last 11 innings.

He had proved his mettle in shorter formats too, having scored a century on ODI debut against Zimbabwe. And when it came to playing in T20Is, he continued his good form with a scintillating unbeaten 110 against the West Indies in the USA back in August 2016 and a superb knock of 71 against England in Nagpur back in January this year.

However, as players like Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan returned and struck form, it became quite difficult for Rahul to keep his place in the Test side. Both batsmen cemented their places at the top with a couple of big innings, and Rahul perished due to his habit of throwing away starts and not converting his fifties into big hundreds. From being the first-choice opener, he became just a back-up option.

As far as the ODIs are concerned, it was his failure as a middle-order batsman in the series against England at home and Sri Lanka in away conditions that led to his exclusion. Scores of 8, 5, 11, 4, 17 and 7 didn’t work in his favor in the format.

However, he has repeatedly proved his worth in the T20I format, and his innings of 61 on Wednesday was another reminder of that. He is too good a batsman to be left out of the squad irrespective of formats or even to be selected only as a back-up option. Rahul is a match-winner in himself. But, the Indian team hasn’t backed him as much as they should have.

Even he feels that it is not easy for a middle-order batsman to walk out and start scoring immediately. It is important for the player to match the tempo of the innings preceding his arrival and ride along afterwards. So, it might take time for a batsman to settle down in the middle-order. But, once he gets a couple of good knocks going, he builds confidence and his performance in that role keeps becoming better.

“For a middle-order batsman, when he walks in, it’s not the easiest, you need to get on with the game as soon as you can. You need to maintain a certain strike rate, so it can’t be easy but that’s how the sport is, it’s not easy for anybody batting anywhere. Once, you get a couple of good knocks in whatever position you are playing and if you are in good form, then you just continue that. Each player comes to a realization what is best for him and what is the best way for him to be successful and once they get that then it’s only upwards,” Rahul said after his scintillating performance on Wednesday.

When Rohit Sharma departed after scoring 17 runs off 13 deliveries in the fifth over, it was Rahul who picked up the tempo. While Shreyas Iyer, the batsman who walked out to bat next, kept batting at run-a-ball, Rahul accelerated India’s innings with some fabulous stroke play.

He got his innings going with a well-timed inside out shot off Dushmantha Chameera over covers for a boundary in the third over. He followed that up with a couple of sweetly timed boundaries on the leg-side off Akila Dananjaya and Angelo Mathews’ bowling and looked set for a big innings.

His innings could have come to a halt on 23 when he was adjudged out lbw off Mathews in the sixth over. However, the decision was overturned following a review from Rahul as ball-tracking clearly showed the ball was missing leg stump.

Since then, he wreaked havoc on the Sri Lankan bowling, going on a boundary-hitting spree. He played some superb pull shots and beautiful leg-glances during that period. One such pull resulted in a six over the deep square leg boundary off Mathews’ bowling. He accelerated in such a way that he brought up his fifty in just 34 deliveries, scoring his last 25 runs off just 11 balls. India were set for a big score as they were 84/1 at the end of 10 overs with Rahul doing the bulk of the scoring and remaining unbeaten on 50.

He struggled to keep the tempo of the innings going as the Sri Lankan bowlers made a comeback with some tight bowling in the middle overs. Rahul had scored just 11 runs in the next 13 deliveries and went for a slog off Perera’s bowling in the 13th over that castled him. Nevertheless, it was a very good innings as it set a platform for MS Dhoni and Manish Pandey to tee off later on.

“Every innings is important and with the kind of competition that is in the team, whatever opportunities you get, you need to go out there and make it count, try to do our best and that’s what I did. I tried to keep things simple and I’m very glad that it came off today,” he said after his match-winning knock.

The Indian team, in recent times, hasn’t given any of the young players enough time to show their mettle as a middle-order batsman. Just a couple of bad outings have been enough to deem them as not good enough for that position. They have to realize that it takes time for a batsman to settle down in a particular role. As far as Rahul is concerned, he is too good a batsman to be axed from any format.

Indian selectors and team management should not overlook Rahul’s potential. He needs to be in the playing XI in every format, at least as a middle-order batsman, if not an opener. And they have to and must give him time to settle down into that role.