Facing Steyn is a different challenge, enjoy batting with Rohit and Virat: KL Rahul
KL RAHUL'S DEBUT Test in 2014 was nothing short of a nightmare -- a fast MCG wicket, an intimidating crowd, and India in a soup. He struggled to get going. Five Test matches later, he already has two hundreds to his name and has a long way to go.
After having a promising tour of Sri Lanka, KL Rahul is prepping for his first home series against the World's No.1 Test team, South Africa. He started off well, scoring a composed 72 in the warm-up game against the South Africans, and is now looking forward to the full Test series.
The prospect of facing one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket can be quite daunting, let alone looking into the fierce eyes of Dale Steyn. Rahul, who shares the dressing room with Steyn in the Sunrisers camp, says facing the speedster is a 'different ballgame' altogether.
"I thought I would find it easier to face him but I played him today and it was a whole different experience. Fielding or keeping wickets when he is bowling is one thing. Batting against him with the red ball moving and doing a bit, like it did today, is a different ballgame. He gets the ball to move late and I found it a little hard today. I love playing with him, and playing against him will be a different challenge that I look forward to," admitted Rahul during a chat to bcci.tv after day one of the practice match in Mumbai.
Rahul also added that getting into the mind of a fast bowler is always difficult, as they think and act differently in each game.
With Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay as India's first-choice openers, it is unlikely that Rahul will feature in the playing XI, unless there is an injury to one of them. However, the Karnataka batsman clarifies that there is no internal competition between the three for the opening spot, and both Vijay and Dhawan have been extremely supportive.
"From the moment I entered the dressing room, I never felt there was any competition. Both Shikhar and Vijay came separately to me and spoke about how it would be different from the Ranji Trophy and they were trying to prepare me if at all I got a chance in Australia. It was really important and relaxed me a lot."
Rahul's camaradarie with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma was on display when he batted in Sri Lanka. The youngster shares a great rapport with both batsmen and says it is easier batting with them.
"Batting with Rohit is a lot of fun. I had a partnership with him in Sydney as well. I could walk up to him and tell him that I was nervous and he would calm me down, ask me to take my time and not hurry into anything. Rohit has a calming effect on me but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t talk. When I am batting with Rohit, he makes batting look incredibly easy. Then I get on strike and I am missing the ball, not middling them. And I realise, ‘Okay, I should not take any ideas from the way Rohit is batting’ because he obviously has a lot of time and class."
"He (Virat) likes to guide me, keep me on my toes and encourage me to express myself. He makes sure I don’t feel the pressure, keeps cracking an odd joke here and there to calm my nerves down. He keeps reminding me to believe in my abilities, be calm and wait for the loose ball. We ensure that we rotate the strike well and keep things moving. Both the times when Virat joined me at the crease, we had lost two wickets early and it was important for the team to get a partnership there and stay positive at the same time. That is the one thing Virat keeps telling me – think positive, play positive."
Asked how he worked on his batting after returning from Sri Lanka, Rahul credited his Karnataka coach J Arun Kumar for helping him deal with short balls and fast bowling in general.
"So far it has been coming out well and I have been moving well in the crease."
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