Former India selector Gagan Khoda said recently that he thought middle-order is the ideal place for him
Time outside the Test playing XI has provided opportunity to clear cluttered mind, said K.L. Rahul, who hit 84 as opener to guide India to a 95-run first innings lead over England in the ongoing first Test here.
“I used to have lots of doubts in my mind on the shots I play — 2-3 different shots for every ball even in red ball cricket. So that was something I realised I had to learn to control,” said Rahul, who had last played a Test match in August-September, 2019.
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“When the wicket is challenging or we are playing against a good bowler or when the ball is swinging, we need to hold back some shots — so those are the things I tried to work on and those were the learnings from when I was not playing Test cricket,” added Rahul on Friday night.
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Prior to the tour of England, he was earmarked for the middle-order. In fact, former India selector Gagan Khoda said recently that he thought middle-order is the ideal place for him.
Given an opportunity to bat at No. 5 in the warm-up match, Rahul scored a century against County Select XI last month.
“Anything that I have learnt over the last two years is be ready to do anything. I have been asked to do different roles a lot of times and I enjoyed doing them and this was another opportunity for me to go out there and challenge myself,” he told media.
“Obviously, [in] the Test cricket that I have played so far, I have opened the batting so that is something that I have done all my life. It wasn’t something new, I knew how to go about the innings and how to build an innings. So I wanted to go out there and grab the opportunity and make the most of it,” he added.
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