After having dropped from the national team due to poor form, KL Rahul smashed a ton and showed everyone his class. He was playing for Karnataka in the Vijay Hazare Trophy where he scored a 122-ball 131 against Kerala at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. After the game, Rahul admitted switching to domestic from international cricket is challenging.
“The pace of the game is a lot slower,” KL Rahul was quoted as saying by Times of India. “In international cricket, the stadiums are full all the time. The wickets I feel are a lot better at the higher level. Here it’s a bit more challenging. If we get to bat first, then the first 10-15 overs is a bit of a challenge. It’s like playing the first session in a red-ball game. That’s also a good challenge for me because I need to work on my game. Obviously, you have to stay a lot more disciplined.”
Rahul although took his time initially to settle down in the middle for playing big innings. He scored 50 off his first 68 balls before accelerating his game.
Read here: KL Rahul Shuts the Critics with a Brilliant 131
“Not as free-flowing as I wanted it to be,” he admitted. “But this gives you more satisfaction as a player because you know it was not an easy wicket. You had to work hard. I had to play 100-110 balls to get that hundred. This kind of innings gives you more confidence. I want to challenge myself in difficult conditions, work on my technique, see where I’m faltering. So, to come back here and work on it, to get quality opposition and to get runs against them feels very good,” he said.
“Once I got set I wanted to make sure I carry on longer because we are only playing five specialist batsmen and three or four all-rounders. I wanted to make sure that one of the batsmen is there till 40-45 overs. Somewhere in the first game (against Jharkhand) I felt that, I could have carried on longer and delayed that risky shot. Today I tried to stay more disciplined. That’s what I am looking to get out of these 8-10 games, make sure I am disciplined with my shot selection,” he added.
His ton certainly gave hope to the selectors to think about him for the future series as well.
