India batsman KL Rahul thinks the suspension that came after the loathsome episode of the TV show ‘Koffee with Karan’ last year has positively changed his thought process. And now, he thinks about his game and that leads to consistent performances.
BCCI’s Committee of Administrators (COA) suspended Rahul and Hardik Pandya, who assist criticism following their sexiest remarks on the show and we’re called back from Australia in January last year.
“A lot of credit for my consistent performance goes to how differently I started thinking after 2019. With this suspension and with all that happened, I was tempted or I was in a way wanted to be selfish and play for myself, and I failed. So I told myself I need to go out and do what the team wants me to do,” Rahul told ‘India Today’.
Rahul has also stated that the suspension thought him how he decided to determine all his strengths in the right direction.
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“We all know our careers are not too long and I realised after 2019 that I probably have a good 12 or 11 years left in me and I need to dedicate all my time and energy towards becoming a player and team man,” the 28-year-old stylish Karnataka batsman said.
“That mind-shift really helped and took a lot of pressure off me when I started focusing on wanting to do better for the team and be a part of champion teams and make a difference in the game.” he further added.
The 28-year-old also revealed that he is a big fan of Rohit Sharma’s batting and expressed gratitude to the India limited-overs vice-captain for having faith in him.
“Humbled by Rohit’s words (that KL Rahul is the first choice and then it’s decided between me and Dhawan in T20Is for an opening slot). I have been a huge fan of his batting and I have played with him for a few years now,” Rahul said.
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“He is someone who is in the team, how do I say, like some cricketers get dumbstruck after watching Sachin Tendulkar, they don’t know what to say. When I am with Rohit off the field, I am still not been able to get through,” Rahul added.
“He is someone in the team who has given me the sense that he has a lot of faith in me and as a senior player, I have seen that he has backed me and stood by me on a lot of instances. When senior players feel like there is a guy who can take responsibility, a player who has not played consistently for the country, it gives a lot of confidence.” he further said.
Rahul’s successes streamed as he did not reinstate Rishabh Pant in white-ball cricket but also smashed 303 runs in five innings at the average of 75.75 with a strike rate of 114.77 in ODIs.
While in the shortest format of cricket, the right-hander scored 224 runs at an average of 56.00 with a strike rate of 144.51.
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