“I Felt Sorry For You”: Australia Great Expresses Concern. KL Rahul Responds

Star India batter KL Rahul has eased his way into the playing XI after recovering from an hamstring injury. Rahul had injured himselft during an Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) game between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 1. After being out of action for month, Rahul returned to the team for the Asia Cup earlier this month. On his return to the side, Rahul scored a century against Pakistan, and has been going through a purple patch since then. He has also looked more than comfortable while keeping the gloves

Former Australia batter Mark Waugh was intrigued by Rahul’s workload and asked the star player about the same.

“What about the workload personally, you’ve got to keep wickets, you have got to bat at the top of the order or at No.4 in these conditions. I felt sorry for you in Mohali. I just don’t know how you do it. Is it hard to cope with all that in the heat?” Waugh asked Rahul on Sports 18.

Reacting to the same, Rahul said while the multifaceted role has been a bit of challenge, he is feeling really fresh, and is ready to contribute to the team’s cause.

“I’ve come back really fresh, I’ve had a lot of juice in me so no complaints on that front. It has been really challenging physically. The weather and conditions in Colombo were what we thought would be the worst we could get but then we turned up in Mohali… I said this after that game as well, I said in the huddle ‘We’ve come from Colombo, this can’t be worse.’ It is Mohali, it must be pleasant. Three overs later, when Mitch Marsh got out everybody looked at each other and said skip, you’ve made the worst decision by opting to bat. It is a good challenge that we get used to it because we will have similar conditions to deal with in the World Cup,” Rahul replied.

Rahul explained how his injury layoff helped him to reflect on his game and improve his skills.

“When you are away from the game for that long you get a lot of time to reflect on yourself, on your batting and technique. All we have done all our lives is play cricket so there is nothing else to think about, nothing keeps you busy. After you finish training we are at home thinking about cricket and how we can get better the time I spent at home helped me understand how I can play my role better. You walk in after a long period with no baggage and you try to enjoy yourself and that is what I have done. Happy that I could get a few good knocks, does a world of good for the confidence,” he added.