KL Rahul’s Success Mantra: Respect the Bowlers Early
KL Rahul has been India’s best batter in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He has shown great composure and technique on tough Australian pitches. In the third Test, Rahul scored 84 off 139 balls. His knock helped India reach 252 for nine on day four. His patient, disciplined approach makes him the most reliable Indian batter. Many of his teammates have faltered in the series.
“See I’m quite certain that everybody has their own set plans… You also need to have a bit of luck as a top-order batter.
“Just a little bit that goes your way if you can get through those first 10-15 overs and get a bit of confidence then you start feeling good and you start enjoying playing with the Kookaburra ball with the pace and bounce here in Australia,” said Rahul who has reaped the benefits of playing close to his body.
“It’s just about getting through those first 20-30 balls for everybody and everyone’s trying their best to do that and it’s a long series. So we played three games five innings now, so I’m sure everyone will go back and come up with their own plans the next time we bat.
“The only thing you can do in the first 30 overs is to tighten up your defence, try and respect that the first 30 overs is the bowler’s time and give them their time, leave balls, try and play as tight as possible and then really try to cash in once the ball gets older. So that’s my plan, and that’s pretty simple, and I’m sure that’s the plan for everybody.”
“Yeah, very important. I mean, not just for me, for any openers on both sides,” said Rahul when asked about the importance of leaving balls.
“We’ve seen even in Adelaide when in the night when McSweeney and Labuschagne played really well in those 10-15 overs they just kept leaving balls of a good length…
“… That’s a good thing about playing here in Australia, if you get used to the pace and bounce, you can trust the bounce and you can leave balls on bounce and that’s something that they showed us in the last game.” When on tours, Rahul reckons one has to earn the right to score runs.
“When you travel overseas and when you’re playing quality fast bowlers, you have to respect the first 20-30 overs. You have to respect if the ball’s moving, you have to give it to the fast bowlers and just soak in that pressure and wait for your time to score runs.
“You have to earn the right to score runs in overseas conditions. And that’s something that we’ve spoken about a lot and we’ll try and do it again,” said Rahul, adding that he had a hard time picking the pink ball in the previous game.
“So I’ve had a pretty simple plan for these two grounds. But now, once I’ve come here again, gone back to basics and try and play close to the body, leave balls, the basics, I can’t make up anything new and tell you,” said the opener.
Lower-Order Contributions Made a Difference
In the third Test, India avoided the follow-on. A vital, unbeaten 39-run partnership for the 10th wicket saved them. It was between Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep. Rahul praised the lower order’s efforts, particularly in the challenging conditions.
“Yes, very good to see when the lower order chips in and scores runs. That’s something that we discuss a lot in our meetings and the bowlers work really hard on their batting as well.
“Knowing that there’s a bit of rain around and so much of the game has been lost to rain. We need to find a way to stay in the game and I think Akash and Bumrah did that at the end,” said Rahul, who was preparing himself to bat again when India were reduced to 213 for nine.
“It was a great contest at the end, the last half an hour they batted, not just the runs that they got, just the heart that they showed to keep away the bouncers, there’s a lot of pace and bounce in the wicket.
“To get behind the ball, defend really well, leave the ball, hit some nice shots, it’s really good,” added Rahul.
