Felt strange walking into dressing room in England with Rohit, Virat, Ashwin not around: KL Rahul

Ace Indian cricketer KL Rahul has admitted that he misses the presence of senior cricketers like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin in the Test setup.

Rahul conceded that he "felt a little strange" during the five-match Test series against England earlier this year without the experienced trio being around the setup. He also noted how a sense of maturity gradually kicked into his personality from the moment he started to consider himself as a senior players for the betterment of the youngsters in the team.

“I don’t know if it’s happened organically, but I’ve generally not thought too much about it. Of course, I miss having those two or three senior guys around in the dressing room: most of my Test career has been with them. When I walked into the dressing room in England and saw Rohit, Virat, and Ashwin not around, it felt a little strange because they had always been there. Somewhere along the way, you get the sense that, as a senior player, you need to step up and take a bit more responsibility, so that the younger guys can focus on their cricket without feeling burdened," stated Rahul while speaking to JioHotstar after the end of second day's play against West Indies in Ahmedabad.

Rahul, who struck his 11th Test century against West Indies in the ongoing Ahmedabad Test, also revealed that he has worked on the mental aspect of his game more than the technical bit, especially after the series against New Zealand in which he was dropped after the series-opening clash. He also elaborated on the confidence the England series has given him as well as shed light on his mantra for batting.

“I think I’m feeling very confident in myself and in my game. I’ve worked really hard on certain aspects—not so much technically, but more mentally—just understanding the tempo I need to bat at. The last series we played here in India against New Zealand, I played one game and then wasn’t part of the next two Tests. That was the time I really sat down to reflect on how I could turn things around—what I was doing right, and what I wasn’t," said Rahul.

"Since the England series, once I got some runs under my belt, it gave me the confidence to just go out there and execute my plans. I’ve tried to keep my cricket simple—watch the ball, score runs, and enjoy the game. When you have runs behind you, it becomes much easier to do that," he added.

Speaking of the first Test, India ended Day 2 on 448/5 in 128 overs. The Shubman Gill-led side had three centurions as Dhruv Jurel and Ravindra Jadeja also slammed centuries apart from Rahul.