Star for India in the white-ball format, KL Rahul hasn’t played a Test match in almost two years. The last of his five Test centuries arrived at The Oval in September, 2018. Rahul’s form going into that tour was lean but he delivered in style on that particular occasion.
However, having been dropped from the squad in 2018, KL Rahul says that he had to go back and contemplate and analyse a lot of things. “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,” he told BCCI.tv.
“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.”
Unlike his position the last time he was in England, KL Rahul won’t be featuring as an opener this time around. In fact, there’s still no guarantee over his inclusion in the starting XI as a middle-order batsman. However, with Ajinkya Rahane suffering from a hamstring niggle, he could be in the thick of the action in the first Test.
In that particular innings at The Oval, KL Rahul played with a sense of freedom knowing that it could be his last Test in a long time. “I remember The Oval being the best batting pitch we got in the whole series,” he said. “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.”
In a recent warm-up game against County Select XI, KL Rahul featured prominently and he also ended up scoring a century. Rahul says he has been working on his game for a while and he has learnt from his mistakes.
“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 concluded.
