India opener KL Rahul termed captain Virat Kohli’s backing as a massive ‘confidence booster’ during the tough times he has endured in his short international career, reported PTI.
Rahul returned to action in the second Test after missing the series opener due to viral fever. He made instant impact, scoring a solid 57 before being run out.
Rahul said that the knowledge that his place in the playing eleven is secure, as skipper Virat Kohli had put it in the pre-match conference, helped him during his recovery. “It makes a massive difference. It gives me so much confidence, not just now but even after the surgery the support staff, the coaches, the boys were constantly messaging me and saying ‘whenever you are ready, get ready sooner, the team misses you’ and small things like that make a lot of difference,” said Rahul.
“That kept me motivated, that woke me up each morning to go to physiotherapy and do my boring rehab. It gives you confidence that team is backing you and I come back with lot more confidence,” added Rahul.
Rahul is no stranger to injuries or illness, and he has been in/out of the team in his short 18-Test career. “I have kind of gotten used to this. More than playing for a long time, I have been in and out of the team because of injuries. It’s never easy to come back. It takes you a couple of games to get back into your groove as an opening batsman, understand where your off-stump is, to understand what pace you have to play at, how many shots are too many shots, how slow is too much slow - there are a lot of things, a lot of doubts in your mind if you keep going out and coming back in. But I have enjoyed the challenge,” said Rahul.
Rahul was immaculate in his innings on day one but due to confusion in the middle with Cheteshwar Pujara, Rahul was run out. “I wasn’t upset with him. Run outs happen, it could have happened with anybody. It could have been him who got run out and it could have been my mistake. I wasn’t disappointed about that. I was disappointed because I have been away from the game so long and I didn’t want to get out at all,” he said.
Rahul has scored four hundreds and seven fifties so far and he admits that he should have converted more starts.
“My job as an opening batsman is to give the team a good start, lay a solid foundation and I think I’ve done that so far. Disappointing that I have not been able to convert that, but I think that will keep me hungrier. Each time I go back to bat, I will want to get more and more runs,” he said.
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