KL Rahul recently made a comeback to the Indian side in the home T20I series against Australia. He looked in fine touch with the bat as he scored 50 and 47 in the 2 games. It was great for the team to have him back in form after the right-hander went through a tough time.
Last month, he received massive criticism after the talk show Koffee with Karan was aired in which he featured alongside Hardik Pandya. The comments made by the duo were deemed to be inappropriate. As a result, they were called back home midway through the Australia tour. They had to miss the New Zealand tour that followed also.
But the BCCI lifted the ban on them and Hardik was slotted in straight away in the national side. However, Rahul was sent to play for India A. His decent performances there helped him gain a place back in the Indian team. Virat Kohli backed him at the opener’s slot in the Australia T20Is as Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were rested for a game apiece. Rahul repaid the faith by two back to back good knocks.
Rahul Dravid’s influence did wonders
KL mentioned that playing for India A did the world of good for him. When he wasn’t playing for India, his stint with India A which is coached by Rahul Dravid, helped him gain back the confidence.
“I got some time off from international cricket, so I could come back to India and reflect on what was not going right for me. Fortunately, I got to play some India A games where the pressure is a bit less and where I could focus on my skill and my technique.
“Got to spend a lot of time with Rahul Dravid, working on my game and chatting about cricket. He helped a lot in the five games I played for India A. The time I have spent in the middle has helped. It is nice to be back with the boys and back in blue,” said Rahul in the post-match conference in Bengaluru.
The controversy humbled KL Rahul
Reflecting on the time that he was away due to the suspension, KL Rahul said that the hard time humbled him. It made him value the opportunities he gets to represent the national colors even more.
“It was a hard time no doubt. I mean, as a player, as a person, everyone has to go through difficult times and it was my time to go through that and like I said it gave me time to reflect on my game, on myself. I have always been someone who takes things as it comes.
“It has humbled me a little bit and you know, respect the opportunity that I have gotten to play for the country. The dream of every kid is to play for the country and I am no different. Just to value where I am, just to keep making opportunities count and put my head down and keep working on my cricket,” added the Karnataka batsman.
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