IND vs AUS | Kuldeep told me my 'keeping was good' , reveals KL Rahul
KL Rahul, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his swashbuckling 50-ball 80 in Rajkot, has stated that he is enjoying his wicket-keeping responsibilities too, having being complimented by Kuldeep Yadav. Rahul has also added that he is happy being given different roles and by the team management.
The spotlight of the series was never meant to be squarely on KL Rahul ahead of the series, but the turn of events in the last few weeks have made it possible. His natural ability to score against both pacers and spinners forced the team management to accommodate him in the side, nevermind that meant Virat Kohli had to drop down by one position to have the Karnataka opener at No.3.
While that didn't work out for the Indian skipper, he returned back to his original position, leaving Rahul to do the tough job of a finisher, on the top of being a wicket-keeper in Rishabh Pant's absence. If anything, Rahul has done everything asked of him and then some more for the team's needs. His keeping was technically correct and his ball collecting skill was right on the money. The confidence further boosted when Rahul was congratulated by one of the most difficult spinners to keep in the world - Kuldeep Yadav.
"Kuldeep told me my 'keeping was good. I grew up 'keeping but I didn't do it a lot for my first-class team, but in the last few weeks I did keep for Karnataka, so I've been in decent wicketkeeping touch, so hopefully I can keep my spinners and fast bowlers happy," Rahul said in the post-match presentation, reported Cricbuzz.
After being entrusted with the responsibilities of batting at No.5, a job that was of MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya for the longest time, Rahul did well to stand up to the team's faith. Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer's dismissals brought the scoring rate down and Rahul's swashbuckling display helped India put up a handsome total of 340 runs on board.Â
"I couldn't have asked for a better start. Each day I've been thrown different roles and responsibilities and I'm enjoying it for now. Batting at 5, I wanted to give myself a few balls, you know what the wicket is doing and Virat said that it's coming on nicely. A few came off the middle, and I was confident I could score, and everything else faded away. Glad I got some partnerships going and played my role to the best of my abilities," the Karnataka batsman concluded.
