India vs England 2021: “I’ve never had issues with confidence” – KL Rahul says he wasn’t bothered by form in T20I series


India vs England 2021: “I’ve never had issues with confidence” – KL Rahul says he wasn’t bothered by form in T20I series

KL Rahul

KL Rahul came back to form in the first ODI against England following a string of low scores in the T20I series that India won. The No. 5 ranked batsman in T20Is registered scores of 0, 1, 0 and 14 before being dropped in the final T20I. The 28-year-old looked too low on confidence and never seemed comfortable at the crease. Having been dropped in the 5th T20I, he was however, picked in the middle order for the first ODI.

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KL Rahul hit form there as he scored a blistering half-century at the death and put on an excellent hundred partnership with debutant Krunal Pandya to take India to a score in excess of 300 that ultimately proved to be enough as England folded for just 251. Now, Rahul has opened up about his lean patch in T20Is and how he got back to form.

KL Rahul says he never lost confidence

KL Rahul
KL Rahul

KL Rahul spoke at a virtual press conference ahead of the second ODI about his performances and said, “I was confident, for a player to come this far, it’s only self-belief that gets him this far. I have always been confident on who I am as a player and who I am as a person. It was never an issue of confidence and self-belief. Like I said, sometimes it’s sport, you try everything that is possible and which is in your control, still it does not go your way. So you accept it and try to learn from the mistakes you have done. I was always confident, I knew in the nets and the practice sessions, I was batting well.”

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He then added that he felt disappointed however saying, “Having said that, it does not mean that you do not feel disappointed. When you are playing at this level, you always want to perform, but you need to accept that it is not always going to go your way. When things were going right, I did not question my process so I did not want to sit back and overthink after four-five bad performances, I was doing most things right which was in my control.”

Speaking about his Karnataka teammate Prasidh Krishna who shone on debut, Rahul said, “Quite honestly, I am not surprised with what Prasidh did in the first ODI. I always knew that the next player coming out of Karnataka would be Prasidh. I have watched him play a lot of junior cricket, I watched him in the nets. He was someone who would catch your eye, he is a tall guy so he gets a lot of bounce from the wicket. Having played with him in the last two seasons, I realised he is a brave boy.”

The second ODI begins tomorrow at 1:30 PM IST.

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