India batter KL Rahul opined on his and the entire Indian team’s love for Test cricket and shared how they aim to overcome their recent batting struggles in the upcoming series against England as well. Rahul, who will be one of the key players in the upcoming five-match Test series, opened up on the collective shortcomings in India’s previous losses, but remains confident that the team will bounce back.
In an interview with former England captain Nasser Hussain for Sky Sports Cricket, KL Rahul said, “I think looking back at the last couple of Test series, we definitely should have batted better. Losing three Test matches at home, in conditions that we know well—and where we’ve rarely, if ever, lost a series in recent times—is disappointing.”
“I think the main reason was our batting. New Zealand found a way to keep us quiet. They didn’t give us easy boundaries, and we’re a team that enjoys hitting boundaries and putting pressure on bowlers…That pressure built up, and we ended up playing some poor shots,” he shared.
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“I think we carried that habit of not being able to win crucial moments into the Australia series. We made some of the same mistakes again. Yes, Australia is a tough place to play, but we had won the last two series there. We went in with confidence, having held the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for nearly a decade. The conditions weren’t new to us—we knew what to expect. But somehow, as a team, we just didn’t perform well enough. Collectively, we fell short and ended up on the wrong side of things,” he added.
KL Rahul also expressed the Indian team’s collective love for Test cricket, making the bounce-back even more important as well.
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“I love red-ball cricket. You can’t take that away from me, or anyone who’s been part of that Indian team. Everyone I’ve spoken to in that squad feels the same. Red ball cricket is number one for us. We love playing Test cricket, and that hasn’t changed for me,” KL Rahul said.
“I grew up watching Test cricket. I used to wake up at 5 in the morning to watch matches in Australia with my father—he loved the game too. There’s just something pure about Test cricket. It’s always stuck with me, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change,” he concluded.
