Feared losing my ability of playing same cover drive as before, reveals KL Rahul
KL Rahul has stated that he developed a nightmare of losing his skillset and the ability to play the cover drive the way he used to before the lockdown. Rahul has further added that he would take lessons from MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s captaincy to formulate his own strategy.
Pre-lock-down KL Rahul emerged as the biggest strength for India in the middle-order, with his attacking brand batting befuddling Australia and New Zealand. He also donned the role of wicket-keeper after Rishabh Pant's uninspiring displays and so much so that he took over the “Best limited-over batsman in India” tag on social media. However, all of that came to a screeching halt thanks to the pandemic-induced lockdown, which forced the players to stay indoors and stop training outdoors. While the first few days worked like a charm for many players, who needed rest badly, but the longer it went on, the frustrating it got for them and Rahul admitted that he even developed a nightmare of losing his skillset.
“I did get anxious sitting at home. My fear was that I would get lazy, so I trained at home during the day. I made a plan for a day and tried to stick to it. But initially, I didn’t bother as I felt I deserved to be lazy and that I can wake up at whatever time I want to. Even if I didn’t train, it was acceptable for me because my body needed that break after years. Later on, though, I told myself I needed to plan my day, be it doing household work or getting up at a particular time. Most days, I stuck to my plan. I didn’t want to waste my time watching TV. I cooked, walked my dog and designed clothes for my brand,” Rahul told Indian Express.
“Once or twice I did have sleepless nights thinking what if once I get back to playing cricket, I am not the same player. That was a bit scary but luckily in Bengaluru, we got a few practice sessions and that made me feel good. Couple of nights, I had nightmares. I woke up with the feeling, ‘oh s**t, what if I can’t pick the line and length of the ball? What if I become slower? What if I don’t have the same cover drive as before?’ All these question marks were there. And the first session didn’t help: all those fears came true. I batted so badly in that session it was scary. But after three sessions, I started to feel better and it made me happy,” the Kings XI Punjab captain added.
For the first time in the IPL, Rahul will be taking over the duties of leading a side after Ravichandran Ashwin was traded to Delhi Capitals. While no one quite knows what Rahul’s captaincy style would be, the Karnataka man stated that he would pick brains of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to implement in his own way.
“I always played the game thinking as if I’m the captain. At the ground, I always think of what I would have done in a particular situation. Whom I would have bowled in a situation? I was always proactive in my head and it’s just an extension of that. I know it will be harder than I think. I am not going in with any expectations like I have played cricket so many years. I will get on the field and try to make decisions in the moment. You can’t plan too much because it could be confusing.
“Dhoni’s calmness and belief showed in backing players who had the potential to be matchwinners. Virat’s passion in the way he leads, the way he wants the boys to be better and better. Rohit always plays with passion and backs players.”
0
0
0
0
0
0
Comments
Sign up or log in to your account to leave comments and reactions
0 Comments