“Sometimes I’m sitting there thinking what more can I do”, KL Rahul shares his frustration

KL Rahul, after his great innings in the Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia, said that he likes to bat at the top. However, he also mentioned, “Everywhere that I’ve been asked to play I’ve played and I feel like I have performed my role.”

KL talks about his preferred batting position

KL Rahul started his international career as an opener but then pushed to down for the sake of team balance due to a void in the middle-order. The 32-year-old has proved his versatility and proved his batting ability wherever his team asked to perform. During the Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia, KL Rahul came up with a vital innings and went on to win the match for India with an unbeaten 42 off 34. While asked about his preferred batting position, Rahul admitted, “Yeah, I do [enjoy batting at the top], I mean I won’t lie.”

He further told Star Sports, “It’s after opening the batting in Australia in Test matches and having to face that attack in Australia and you know how red-ball [cricket] is much harder. I opened the batting there and then to come here and bat low seems a bit different, but this is how I’ve played white-ball cricket in the last four-five years.”

After playing almost at every position at the top and middle-order, KL Rahul said, “So, I’m quite used to going up and down the order so I’m just happy getting a chance to play in the middle and whatever role is given, I think it’s really helped me understand my game a lot more and I’ve had to work on boundary hitting a lot more in the last year or so because the last ODI we played in Sri Lanka I batted at No. 6, so I knew that’s where I’ll be batting and [we] needed a left-hander in the top order.”

He went on to remind all how he has been playing as a middle-order batter in ODIs since 2020. “Honestly, I mean it’s since I think 2020 I’ve batted at No.5 and a lot of times people forget that that’s where I’ve been batting,” Rahul said.

KL shares frustration

Despite proving his worth every time, especially whenever the team needed him, KL Rahul’s place in the team remains uncertain. Speaking of it, the wicketkeeper-batter said, “And every time I perform in a series and then there’s a break from ODI series, ODI cricket and then we come back after four or five months there’s a question mark again about ‘oh well will he play in the XI, where does he fit’ and sometimes I’m sitting there thinking what more can I do.”

He continued, “Everywhere that I’ve been asked to play I’ve played and I feel like I have performed my role. Whatever’s been told to me by Rohit [Sharma], Rohit’s been the captain for the last four-five years. And whatever he’s told me I feel like I’ve done that to the best of my ability.” However, he did not forget to acknowledge the support he gets from the captain, Rohit Sharma. ” And I know that Rohit feels the same and he’s always supported me and backed me with that. So, there’s that confidence going into game that the captain has my back,” he concluded.

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