The flair was always there, people are just seeing it now: KL Rahul

KL Rahul has come out as a whole new cricketing personality this year. After scoring a ton on his debut in Australia, everyone thought of him as a perfect Test match player. His batting looked genuinely traditional.

After a satisfying international debut, it was thought he would soon make his entry into the limited overs team as well. But, he was overlooked. It seemed that he was stereotyped as a test player. There were many who thought it would best if his presence is limited to the Test format due to his conservative approach towards batting.

But, a few months later, in the IPL, KL Rahul broke this myth. There was a new KL Rahul on display. His batted more aggressively and run flowed from his bat in abundance, eventually finishing the IPL 9 as RCB’s second highest run getter behind Virat Kohli. Almost immediately, the perception changed about him.

His IPL performance duly earned him the entry int the limited overs team for the tour of Zimbabwe where he struck a ton the ODIs and fished as the highest run-getter in the series. Then the West Indies tour followed where he continued to do better. In the T20I series against West Indies in the USA, Rahul registered tons in all formats after he hit a thrilling century at Lauderhill.

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For the fans, KL Rahul as a batsman has changed in many ways but the 23-year-old doesn’t think in the same way. He thinks that it is due to his improved fitness that he has been able to achieve this success.

“I don’t think my batting changed in just the last one year. Yes, things have come together in the last one year. I think it’s a process which has grown in the last five to six years.”

“I don’t think there are too many technical changes in my batting. There might be a few things I might have altered but I worked more on how to control my mind, how I can focus at the right time. That has been the most important thing.

“I also started training hard and have gotten fitter as I always believed that being strong and fit adds to your mental strength as well. It’s my performances that gave me the confidence. The flair was always there, people are just seeing it now.”

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“If you are smart and intelligent, you will realize what mistakes you are doing and try to correct that. I knew I always used to over think and used to think about the results before focusing on my process. So decided to keep things simple. I knew I had the game, I had the strength to hit the ball outside the park.

“I just needed a couple of good knocks to give me that confidence to get me going. Luckily for me, it happened in IPL than confidence went higher. And once I got that confidence I wanted to carry on from there. I wanted to enjoy the game.”

“Then, the amount of runs you get, the kind of form you are in obviously gives more confidence and puts you in the right frame of mind. You are hitting the ball well, you are keeping things simple. That’s the state of mind any player wants to be in. Fortunately for me I have found that good mental state that I want to be in before the game. With the right game face and zone to be in. It’s all going well for me. I have worked on a few things in my batting, and that has helped me to perform consistently.”

Success has a lot to with the mental aspect of the game than the physical. KL Rahul says that realizing this fact was the most important thing while trying to improve as a performer. He also credited team India batting coach Sanjay Bangar for being a good guide.

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“Obviously spending sometimes with the Indian dressing room or in the IPL dressing room, you are with these superstar-legends of the game. It’s all in their mind, and their mind is already one up on the bowler. I realize that it is very important — I used to do it before but I got more serious about it now. Now I try to put that in practice and try to get my mind ready for the challenge. When I go in the middle I don’t feel it’s a new situation for me anymore. In my mind, I already have faced these challenges and conditions before.”

“Coaches in the Indian team that includes Sanjay Bangar who told me that I can improve on these things. I have a personal coach as well, and earlier we had Ravi Shastri with us. I spoke to all these guys and got feedback. There are people who always support you whether you are in the Indian team or outside the Indian team.”

Rahul also admits that playing alongside the super confident Virat Kohli in the RCB has helped him a lot. He credits him for boosting the confidence in him.

“Definitely a lot. I play alongside him during the IPL. He always backs the boys who work hard. He kept telling me to believe in myself. That I am just a few knocks away from gaining that confidence and he said, that “you will be the player to come near me”. Kohli’s passion and dedication is remarkable. When he crosses that boundary line his game face is on. I used to watch him on TV, the way he carried himself in Australia.”

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KL Rahul developed a comparison with the legendary Rahul Dravid during his early days in the domestic cricket. He was tagged as the next Rahul Dravid. In fact, the young cricketer shares a great bond with the legend. However, all this performances and comparison meant people perceived him with a very different image.

“The image is created by you people. I always will have great respect for that man (Rahul Dravid). The numbers he has got, the way he handled himself, is respected by people worldwide. It obviously helps when you hail from the same state — you can go and speak to him, learn from interacting with him.

“We in Karnataka are lucky to have so many legends coming in from the same state. We get to learn from these guys. Luckily, my relationship with Rahul Dravid has always been great from my young days.”

He also says that the test specialist tag never really affected the way he approached his batting in any format

“I have to say it’s huge tag, huge role to play… people looking at me as the next Rahul Dravid. He has left a great legacy behind, a huge asset. To play like him or to be like him is fun. I have my own individuality. I want to be myself, but that tag did give me lot of confidence.”