Win over Lions hasn’t sunk in yet: KL Rahul

Although KL Rahul was dismissed for a golden duck against the Gujarat Lions, his exploits in the tournament have been simply phenomenal. Initially viewed as a Test player, Rahul has proved his worth with a string of decent performances with the bat. His half-century against the Mumbai Indians in trying conditions with an injury saw him become almost a giant of a man.

Speaking after the conclusion of the mouthwatering encounter against the Gujarat Lions, Rahul admitted that the victory hadn’t sunk in yet.

“Not yet! (Smiles) I think it will take a couple of hours to sink in, but we are really happy to end up in the top two. To pull ourselves out from a lot of losses to start off the tournament, and then to regroup and come back so strong and end up at No. 2 is very satisfying feeling for us as a team.

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And this is what we spoke about at the halfway stage of the IPL – to go out there and play aggressive cricket and (get the) five-six wins (that we needed). We know we have a good team and we are an all-around team – good bowlers, good batsmen, and players who can field well and do the job for the team. So it was just about getting some momentum and getting some confidence as a team and we did that and we are very happy to finish in the top two,” the 24-year old added.

Speaking about the form of skipper Virat Kohli, Rahul said, “Obviously the way he is batting or the way he has been doing in international cricket and in the IPL is inspiring for anybody watching. He makes batting look so easy. At the moment, you can say that he has been in good form, but since he started in international cricket he has been in good form and I just can’t remember when he has been out of form.

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“So just to have somebody like him in the dressing room, to chat with him and see how he works around his cricket, and (to observe how he) gets better and better every day, that is absolutely a privilege to be in the RCB dressing room or to share the dressing room with him in the Indian team. Whatever little I can learn from Virat I am trying to do it every day,” he added.

Finally, talking about his role in the team, Rahul added: “My role is very simple, I try to go and play cricketing shots. I can play all round the wicket and can get two three balls under me and then I start seeing the ball well and then I strike the ball. Like I have always said, I look to play cricketing shots and that’s always been my strength. So I stick to playing that,” he concluded.