KL Rahul is delighted with his transition to the No. 6 batting position, crediting his success to dedicated “preparation” and continuous improvement. Typically batting at No. 5, Rahul scored 140 runs in four innings in Dubai after moving down the order in the Champions Trophy.
“It’s really pleasing for me. The work that I’m putting in to different roles requires a lot of preparation, work outside the cricket field, thinking about how I need to take each game and how I need to perform in different situations and watch some of the players that bat at 5, 6 and how they’ve been successful,”
Rahul said after India’s Champions Trophy victory on Sunday. He expressed his satisfaction in taking on this new responsibility for the team.
Rahul emphasized the importance of adapting to team needs, saying, “I’ve been taught from a very early age by my coaches that cricket is a team game and whatever the team requires of you, you need to be able to accept that and find a way to put in performances for the team and understand what your role is, understand what the responsibility is, understand what it takes to be successful batting in different positions.”
He delivered crucial performances in the semifinal against Australia and the final against New Zealand. Rahul remained unbeaten with 42 runs against Australia and contributed 32* in India’s successful chase against New Zealand. Though he amassed 140 runs in total, his 98 strike rate proved crucial, a point highlighted by captain Rohit Sharma.
“The pressure doesn’t get to him with that calmness, we wanted that calmness in the middle. I’m very, very happy with how he managed to pull this tournament and batted in the pressure situation, both in semifinals and this game as well. The contribution may not be 70-80, but those 30-40s are a very, very important one,” Rohit said.