Looking For The Opportunities, Trying To Stay A Lot Calmer: KL Rahul

KL Rahul, who remained India’s number 1 T20I batsmen for a good time, recently opened up on his form in the longest format of the game.

The Karnataka-born has said it is important for him to stay patient and wait for his turn in the longest format of the game. Notably, Rahul scored a century for team India in the three-day warm-up game against County Select XI last week.

The game witnessed a batting collapse but Rahul along with Ravindra Jadeja shined bright with the bat in the first innings.

“It’s always good to get runs in the white kit. It’s been a while since I’d played a red-ball game, so it was very nice to be out there, and score runs. It’s important to stay patient and wait for my turn. I’ve been working on my game. It’s good to get some time in the middle and score some runs,” Rahul told bcci.tv.

Have Made Mistakes & Learnt From It: KL Rahul

“I’ve always been confident. I’ve never really worried about confidence. It’s my self-belief that has gotten me so far, but it’s about maintaining a calm head, learning from your mistakes. I’m just enjoying my game. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve learnt from them. I get stronger. Like I said this is a good opportunity again, hopefully fingers crossed I can do the job for the team,” he added.

The captain of Punjab Kings hasn’t played Test matches for India since 2019. He last played against West Indies in 2019. During India’s tour of England in 2018, Rahul had played a knock of 149 at The Oval and this knock had come after couple of poor outing in the earlier Tests.

“When I got dropped in 2018, I had to go back and discuss with coaches, watched a lot of videos to see where I was faltering and try to correct that. I’m happy, time off from Test cricket has helped. Like they say, failure makes you strong, makes you more focused and determined about the game. It’s no different for me. I’m looking forward to the opportunities, trying to stay a lot calmer and more disciplined,” said Rahul.

“I remember The Oval being the best batting pitch we got in the whole series. At the back of my mind, I also knew it was the last game of the series and I hadn’t done well in the series. So, it was only realistic that I would have probably not gotten a chance in the next series,” he added.

However, it is yet to be seen if he is going to get a match in the upcoming 5-Match Test series against England or is he going to warm the bench again.