There has been a plethora of discussions regarding the batting strike rate of the Indian deputy skipper, KL Rahul ever since former skipper, Virat Kohli scored a sparkling century while opening the batting in an Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 match against Afghanistan. Although India captain Rohit Sharma on Sunday confirmed that Rahul will continue to open the batting with him in T20Is, there is still doubt regarding his batting approach of Rahul in the T20I.
Talking about the same during a recent chat with reporters ahead of the 1st T20I against Australia, KL Rahul said, “No one in the dressing room is perfect. Everyone’s working towards something, everyone has a certain role to do. Obviously, strike rates are taken on an overall basis. You’ll never see when that batsman has played at a certain strike rate, whether it was important for him to play at a 200-strike rate, or whether the team could have still won playing at a 100-120 strike rate.”
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He further added, “So these are things that not everybody analyses. That’s why when you look at it, it looks low. Yes, it is something that I am working on. Obviously, the rules that have been defined to each player in the last 10-12 months have been, you know very clearly and the player understands what is expected out of them and everyone’s working towards it.”
Ever since KL Rahul made a comeback to competitive cricket after his injury lay-off, he has struggled to be at the top of his game. He also acknowledged that it has taken him a few matches to feel confident about his body.
KL Rahul explained, “I’m feeling good, obviously, it’s been a few games since I’ve come back after injury and getting that time in the middle was really important. So the Asia Cup and going to Zimbabwe and getting a couple of things were really important and really crucial for me and yeah, I’m feeling good. Looking forward to the challenge against the Australian team and it’ll be fun to play back at home. It’s been a while for me so I’m looking forward to it.”
When asked about India’s declining performances in multi-nation tournaments, Rahul said criticism is natural and that the members of the Indian team criticize themselves more than the fans or anyone else.
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Elaborating the same, KL Rahul said, “The most important thing for a player in that dressing room is what his captain, his coach and what his players think of him. Only we know what role is expected out of each person and everyone is trying to give their best and not every time will a player succeed. That is the kind of environment we’ve created where players are not afraid to make mistakes or fail. We criticize ourselves more than any of you do. We dream of winning; We are representing the country, we want to win the world cup all that is in our mind.”
