At the BCA Stadium in Vadodara, India were under a bit of pressure towards the end of the innings as they needed 58 runs to win off the last 53 balls. Harshit Rana and KL Rahulbatting at number 6, added a partnership of 37 runs to take India towards the 301-run target. While Rana went hammer and tongs, Rahul patiently gave his partner as much of the punch as he could.
Later, when Rana was dismissed, an injured Washington Sundar joined Rahul at the crease. The latter knew he had to do most of the scoring, and he collected twenty runs from his last nine balls to take the team home.
After India came home with four wickets and an surplus, Rahul spoke about the challenges of batting lower down the order and how it has helped his game.
“I honestly walk in and look at the scoreboard and see what I need to do for the next few overs. When I open the batting, obviously I get a lot of overs and most of the overs I can plan, and that’s something I’ve done all my life, so I’ve never had to plan or think about how to be consistent at that stage,” Rahul said while speaking to the broadcasters.
“Honestly, I think batting at five or six has helped me understand my batting a lot better. It’s a completely different challenge. I’m getting to that stage where from ball one you have to hit a boundary well and, and there’s so much pressure and there. You have five fielders out there. When you open the batting, you don’t see any fielders at all. Everyone is next to you, so it’s much easier to bat there,” Rahul added.
There is a lot more pressure on number 6: Rahul
While Rahul said playing at number 6 comes with a lot of pressure as mistakes can be very costly to the team, he said he is open to batting anywhere rather than sitting on the bench.
“There’s a lot more pressure at number 6 and one mistake and you can be on the losing side and all the blame falls on you. It was exciting and I’m grateful that the opportunities that I got every time I was put under pressure, I somehow found a way to make it work for the team and get the team over the line. So I’m just happy and I just go with it and I’ve said this before, I just want to be in the XI, put me wherever, I am happy to do the work,” said Rahul.
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