‘Whatever Rohit Has Told…’: KL Rahul Responds To Questions Over His Spot In India’s ODI XI
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KL Rahul has been shuffled up and down the batting order throughout his international career to suit the team’s requirements.
KL Rahul played a brisk innings to help India beat Australia in the Champions Trophy semifinal. (AP Photo)
KL Rahul has been getting his head down and responding to the various challenges thrown at him thanks to the constant changes his batting spot has undergone during his India career. Rahul made quite a statement by becoming the first from his country to score a century on ODI debut in 2016.
However, the depth of resources at India’s disposal meant Rahul wasn’t going to claim the spot for himself. Eventually, he found himself batting in the middle order – no.5 – and to his credit, managed to make the necessary adjustments in his game to excel at the position.
Right before the Champions Trophy, India started playing Axar Patel, a left-handed batter, higher up in a batting order packed with right-handers. A direct result of his approach was Rahul being demoted to no.6.
The 32-year-old has now qualms even though he admits his preference for batting at the top.
“Yeah, I do (like batting at the top order). I mean, I won’t lie,” Rahul told Star Sports on Tuesday. “It’s after opening the batting in Australia in Test matches (Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25) and having to face that attack in Australia. And, red-ball (cricket) is much harder. I opened the batting there and then to come here and bat low seems a bit different, but this is how I’ve played white-ball cricket in the last four-five years.”
“I’m quite used to going up and down the order, so I’m just happy getting a chance to play in the middle and whatever role is given, I think it’s really helped me understand my game a lot more and I’ve had to work on boundary-hitting a lot more in the last year or so, because the last ODI we played in Sri Lanka I batted at No. 6, so I knew that’s where I’ll be batting and needed a left-hander in the top order,” he added.
Rahul feels that despite his performances, there’s a constant question mark around his place in the ODI team.
“It’s since I think 2020 that I’ve batted at No. 5 and a lot of times people forget that that’s where I’ve been batting. And every time I perform in a series and then there’s a break from ODI series, ODI cricket, and then we come back after four or five months there’s a question mark again about ‘Oh well, will he play in the XI, where does he fit’ and sometimes I’m sitting there thinking what more can I do,” Rahul said.
Rahul said he’s accepted every role that has been asked of him and feels he has the full backing of India ODI captain Rohit Sharma.
“Everywhere that I’ve been asked to play I’ve played, and I feel like I have performed my role, whatever’s been told to me by Rohit. And whatever he’s told me I feel like I’ve done that to the best of my ability. And I know that Rohit feels the same and he’s always supported me and backed me with that. So there’s that confidence going into game that the captain has my back,” he said.
- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)