Not being part of the celebrations in Indore was heartbreaking: KL Rahul

Indian opener KL Rahul had just begun to enjoy the fruits of his hard work when suddenly an injury problem crept in. Initially labelled as a ‘Test batsman’ saw himself re-invent his batting style and emerge as India trusted opener in all three formats. But, just when Virat Kohli had his preferences for the opener’s role sorted out, a hamstring injury forced him to sit out. Indian team completed a whitewash over the Kiwis later on and the right-hander was obviously dejected to miss out on the celebration which took place.

“Not being a part of that Test team in Indore where we became the number one Test side was heartbreaking. But those were little things that woke me up every day in the morning. I had to work really hard mentally and physically to convince myself that the recovery process will take time but slowly and surely I will be back on the field. And, here I am back in the Indian team,” Rahul told bcci.tv on Wednesday.

“It was really important to play a first-class game to give myself the confidence that I was indeed fit. I could have spent a lot of time doing rehab in Bengaluru with the physio and spent time in the gym, but until and unless I had played a proper cricket game, I wouldn’t have known how fit I was.”

“It was important for me to get my confidence up and get into the mindset that if I moved quickly, I am not going to injure myself. That is the challenge that someone who is coming back from injury has; to tell your mind that you are completely fit. Somewhere in the mind, there is always something holding you back and telling you that you might get injured again.”

“I am really excited that I am back. My fitness is good and I am batting really well and have got runs in the Ranji Trophy game against Team Rajasthan. Hopefully, I can continue from where I left off from Kanpur and go from strength to strength. I am looking forward to this series and making it big again.”

The fitness issue meant he had to skip the entire New Zealand series after playing the opening Test at Kanpur and kept him out of the initial selection process for the ongoing England series. The Karnataka batsman is now fit and ready to be back in action. England surely needs to be wary of the rising cricketer who slammed 76 and 106 in his team’s thumping win over Rajasthan.

“I think I have improved enormously over the last couple of years and all the credit goes to the support staff here and all the players I have shared the dressing room with, be it the Indian team or the IPL. I have always looked to learn from players in the dressing room and don’t look too far away for motivation.

“There are great players in my dressing room sitting right next to me. I just talk to them; see their routines and preparations and look at what goes on in their mind while batting. That helps me a lot and I try to learn from those things.”