ICC World Cup 2019 | I am living my dream, expresses KL Rahul
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KL Rahul was quite pleased with his performance as he described his experience of not only playing in a game of such stature but also being able to match the expectations of the fans. He went on to talk about Pakistan’s bowling and the strategy he adopted to get the better of them.
Having made an immediate impact by scoring a century on his ODI debut, KL Rahul has come a long way since, though the road has not exactly been easy. However, be it a brief slump in form or a suspension from the BCCI, he has managed to overcome all obstacles to finally be in the limelight for positive reasons.
“I've had to wait for my chance and I'm just happy that I got to bat in the top three. It's my first international game against Pakistan and it has come in a World Cup so I couldn't ask for anything bigger or better,” he said in the ICC mixed zone, reported TOI.
The talented 27 year old from Karnataka scored a wonderful half century against arch rivals Pakistan to set the foundation for the middle order batsmen. Albeit impressive, his run rate was a bit low and there is always scope for improvement.
"As a kid or as a young cricketer growing up this is what you dream to do - I'm really happy that I got the opportunity and give myself six out of ten! Hopefully I will carry on the confidence and get better,” Rahul said of his display.
The most thrilling part of his innings were his battles with in form pacer Mohammad Amir. Having taken a five wicket haul against Australia, he was posing some serious threat to the openers and Rahul did extremely well to see off the initial overs without losing his wicket.
“With the new ball against any bowler, it's important to see off the first few overs. That was especially true here because we didn't know what to expect from the wicked as it had been under the covers for the past few days. Once we got through those, we felt a lot more comfortable. For an opening batsman it's important to hit a few balls in the middle of the bat and get a few boundaries going,” he remarked.
However, having almost played 80 matches across all three formats for the country, Rahul is experienced enough to handle himself in tough situations. He made sure he was able to fill Shikhar Dhawan’s boots with his skills and make a name for himself on the biggest stage of them all.
“Once you start to focus on the game and all the pressure, the hype of India-Pakistan and the World Cup stage just goes away from your head. The initial few overs are the fight. so we were happy to get through that and happy to get the win,” he signed off.
