Indian star batter KL Rahul is ready to come back to the squad after an injury layoff that saw him miss India’s tasks post the IPL, he talked about the ongoing administration excitedly given he is supposed to recover his spot in the XI post several months uninvolved.
Indian star batter KL Rahul is ready to come back to the squad after an injury layoff that saw him miss India’s tasks post the IPL. Talking just before the first ODI against Zimbabwe, Rahul talked about the ongoing administration excitedly given he is supposed to recover his spot in the XI post several months uninvolved.
“When the selectors and captain-coach back you, it gives you so much more confidence,”
Rahul said.
“Your mindset is clear. You can focus on things that are necessary and important things: your game and skill. It makes it easy for a player knowing your support team is backing you and they believe you even though you’ve had a two-month gap, but they haven’t forgotten what you’ve done for the team and the country for the last two-three years. So that gives you a lot of confidence.
“Players thrive under such situations when you create a conformable environment and give players confidence. That is when he can go from being a good player to being a greater player who can play a lot more match-winning innings for the team.
Apart from making a comeback, Rahul will also straightaway slot in as the skipper in the absence of Rohit Sharma.
“Firstly, I always look at myself as a player,”
Rahul said on leading the side.
“I’m only a captain or leader once I cross the boundary line. We’ve played together for a long time. The same group, we’ve toured before.
“Even though there are a lot of youngsters, we’ve played a lot of IPL cricket together and against each other. There is a lot of respect for the talent everybody has, how they’ve performed, and how far they’ve come in their careers. It’s good fun. Me, I’ve been away for two months. Just to get back into the Indian dressing room and just to have that chat and laughter around the group is great.”
Rahul also stressed the importance of being himself and not trying to copy the likes of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli in terms of captaincy.
“I can’t even compare myself with them as a leader because their achievements are far greater,”
he pointed out.
“What they’ve done for the country, I don’t think anyone else must be put in the same breath. I’m still young, this is just my second series as captain. Obviously, I’ve played under them, and have learned a lot from them. As players in the team, you learn from each other over the years. You learn good qualities from your fellow teammates, and I’ve picked up good qualities from these guys.
“But my personality is such, I feel only when a captain is true to himself, it spreads to the other players. I am a calm person, so I can’t go out there and try to be someone else. I believe it’s not fair to the team or myself or the game. I try to be myself and let the other players be themselves, express themselves as they want to.”
Playing in Zimbabwe will also revive a few decent recollections for the 30-year-old as he made his ODI debut here and scored a ton in that game.
“My ODI and T20I debut was in Harare, I got a 100 in my first game, so I have great memories here,”
he recalled.
“Hopefully can add on to those memories. Coming back here after so many years and getting the opportunity to lead your country, obviously when you look back, it’s very pleasing. As a person, you can see how much you’ve grown and how far you’ve come as a player. It gives me great joy. Hopefully, can add to those good memories and play some good cricket over the next week.”