KL Rahul ((Photo: X)
Adelaide: To KL Rahul, a decade-long journey in international cricket has felt like 25 years in which he has had to overcome "mental challenges" of being a floater in the Indian set-up, deal with injury lay-offs and the noises in his head that have quietened over time.
Ahead of the second Test against Australia and after coming good as an opener in the lung-opener in Perth, he was an assured man, facing questions on the 10-year roller-coaster ride he has endured and enjoyed.
"Feels like 25, the amount of injuries I have had and time away from sport, feels long, but yeah I have enjoyed every bit of it," Rahul reminisced as he saw the lighter side of things.
His 10 years in Test cricket have yielded 54 Test matches. Rahul has often been described as a volcano of talent, which has remained dormant for considerable periods leading to frustration among cricket fans.
"Ten years ago, it was my first Test series (in Australia), there was a lot more going on in my head at that time. Having woken up at 5am as a little boy to watch those Australia series with my father," he sounded nostalgic.
"I wasn't as sure about my batting, how to get runs, how to keep away the noises as I am now," he sounded calm.
In Australia, where it all started in 2014, the 32-year-old now counts his blessings as he intends on turning an 'Imperfect 10' in to a 'Perfect 10'.
"...(I am) really grateful that I have had to go through ups and downs, experienced the good, the bad and everything. So looking forward to the next 10 years," the soft-spoken Banglorean said.
"Australia is where it started 10 years ago. Hopefully, this is the start of something great in the next 10 years of my career," he gave indications of a more assertive Rahul.
He also spoke about how he overcame "mental challenges" of being a floater in the line-up, which has made him confident about doing well for the side at any position.
Rahul was superb in the first Test against Australia in Perth with scores of 26 and 77 while opening the innings in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma, who was on a paternity break.
With Rohit walking back into the playing eleven for the day-night Test starting Friday, Rahul was asked the obvious question about his batting position.
"I have been told about my batting position but have been told not to share it today. You have to wait for day one or may be when the captain comes here tomorrow," he smiled and everyone around had a good laugh.
But having been in and out of the team due to form and injury, he no longer believes in having a choice.
"Anything (opening or middle order)," he said when asked about his preference.
"I just want to be in the playing XI, which means wherever. You go there and bat and play for the team," said the batter with 3000 plus runs and eight hundreds.
Rahul started his Test career in Australia as a middle-order batter, who later opened. His batting slot in both the Test and ODI set-up was far from steady all these years and this affected him.
"I have batted in many positions. Earlier it was a bit of a challenge, not technically but mentally about how to play those first 20-25 balls," he opened up about his apprehensions.
"How early can I attack? How much do I need to be cautious? Those were things that were tricky early on.
"But now that I have played in Tests and ODIs all over the place, it has given me an idea of how I want to manage my innings," said the stylish stroke-maker, who has two hundreds in South Africa, one in Australia and a couple of more in England among his eight Test tons.
In his mind, he has simplified the process of Test batting.
"Whether I am batting top of the order or in the middle order. If I can manage the first 30-40 balls at start, everything then seems like regular batting, that's what I try to focus on," he explained.
Rahul revealed that he was told about the prospect of opening in Australia well in advance. He then played the second game of the recent India A series against Australia A to get precious game time.
"I got told quite early as I missed out on the New Zealand (home) series, I didn't play the last two games, I was told to be ready that there might be a chance to open the batting.
"I got a lot of time to prepare and opening is something I have done a long time in my career. I just had to go back and bat a bit more and as I said, I have batted a lot at the top of the order to know, how to get my runs and what processes I need to follow," he said.
"I practised enough, I came here early to get some time in the middle. We played some practice games as well and it helped me in my preparation."
( Source : PTI )
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