How often have you seen as animated a K.L. Rahul as we were treated to on Thursday night, 10 April, after his match-winning innings of 93 against the at the Chinnaswamy Stadium?

His Kantara-style celebrations, where he marked a circle on the ground and stomped his bat there to indicate his home turf, was the talking point during the day.   

“This is my ground. My home. I know it better than any other,” said the 32-year-old senior batter-keeper of the Indian team, who is known to be articulate but composed in the most demanding of situations.

Maybe it was the pent-up angst — Rahul has been fighting a perception battle over his credentials in the T20 format. Maybe it was the snub from the T20 World Cup squad, or the ’ treatment of him in the last IPL as well as the RCB not showing enough interest in him in the mega auction.

Rahul’s masterclass of 93 off 53 deliveries on a sluggish surface — after his team, the Delhi Capitals were reduced to 58 for 4 — showed what he could bring to the table as a tactician and a finisher.

With the ball gripping and coming slowly off the surface, stroke-making was a challenge. But Rahul showed there was a room to pace one’s innings in this format as well.

After a measured start — 29 runs from his first 29 balls — he exploded, scoring 64 runs off the next 24, picking up the bowlers to attack when the team needed him most.

“I was behind the stumps for 20 overs, observing how the ball behaved,” Rahul explained. “That helped me understand that although the pitch was sticky, it was consistent. I knew my scoring areas and I knew which pockets of the field to target.”

The impact of the innings left his young South African non-striker Tristan Stubbs awestruck.

“I had the best seat. He said it afterwards: This is his ground. He has grown up here, so he knows how to play and stayed positive throughout the innings. He kept enforcing and reminding me to look straight, and that gave me confidence.’’

Stubbs said: ‘’He (Rahul) can do anything. He’s a seriously good player and he's in really good form. So if he can get on a really good wicket, we will be able to see his full potential,’’ he added.

With 185 runs in four matches at a jaw-dropping average of 92.50 and a strike rate of 169.72, Rahul is not only leading by example but redefining his batting approach in the T20 format.

The Delhi Capitals, now with four wins out of four, will now head home to Arun Jaitley Stadium to take on the at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on 13 April (Sunday).