MS Dhoni: KL Rahul expresses his joy batting with the former India captain after scoring a ton against Bangladesh in the Warm-up match
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Settling India’s ever debatable no. 4 spot in the batting order after scoring a magnificent century against Bangladesh on Tuesday, Kl Rahul expressed his joy batting with the veteran MS Dhoni at the other end.
The duo stitched together a 164-run stand during their second Warm-up match against Bangladesh at Cardiff, as they were reduced to 102/4 after 22 overs, after which Dhoni stepped in. The Indian Top order failed to impress yet again as they looked off-colour against some good fast bowling exhibition by Bangladesh up front.
All eyes, however were on KL Rahul who again stepped in at no.4 for India and ultimately delivered, and delivered big time. His 108 off 99 deliveries was studded with some exquisite down the ground and air-borne shots, as he piled up his innings with the assistance of 12 fours and 4 mammoth sixes.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, KL Rahul was in all praise of the Veteran wicket-keeper-batsman MS Dhoni who too played a phenomenal innings with him at the other end, scoring 113 off 78 deliveries.
“Playing with MS is a dream”- Rahul
Without giving much away about his chances of playing at the no.4 spot during the World Cup, the 27-year-old rather said that in a team game like Cricket one needs to be flexible and should be ready to play at any position in which the team needs one to. “You need to be flexible and you need to be ready to bat wherever. As a player you need to be ready to take up any role which is given to you,” Rahul said.
I’m not normally big on reading too much into warm-up games but I think class has spoken and, at least for the start of the #CWC2019, India has found number four. @klrahul11
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 28, 2019
Moments later he also mentioned how he felt or feels whenever MS Dhoni as at the other end. He also reminisced the wonderful partnerships he has had with the veteran in the recent past.
“Batting with MS (Dhoni) is a dream and luckily I’ve had some good partnerships with him in the last 2 or 3 years, so I enjoy batting with him and the way he batted was just so good to watch from the other end. He dominated the spinners and he was from the first ball striking it really well. So it’s a great sign for us”, said Rahul.
On Rahul Dravid’s role
KL Rahul was out of action for a brief period following the infamous imbroglio in a famous chat show, which lead to his suspension.
Reflecting back on the tough phase, Rahul said time away from the game actually helped him become a better a cricketer. He also acknowledged the role played by India A coach Rahul Dravid in his comeback. The former India legend assisted hi with his batting techniques and mental preparedness whilst dealing with low confidence and poor form.
“There were a few things about my batting and my technique that I needed to fix. I worked with my coach back home in Bengaluru and India A games gave me a bit of opportunity.
“Like speaking to Rahul Dravid about mental preparation and how to handle low confidence and poor form. The best way to get back to scoring runs is to find that form in the middle and I got that opportunity. From there, it just carried on. I was very hungry to come back and score runs for whatever team I played,” he spoke on his comeback.
