World Cup, India vs New Zealand: KL Rahul keen to do whatever the team expects of him – Times of India

PUNE: When KL Rahul plucked the ball with his out-stretched left hand to dismiss Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz here on Thursday, his namesake back in the dressing room must have nodded in appreciation.
For, Team India coach Rahul Dravid had donned the wicket-keeping gloves too.
Between 1994 and 2004, Dravid kept wickets in 73 One-day Internationals, including the World Cup in 2003, took 71 catches and effected 13 stumpings.

And like Dravid then, Rahul has stepped out of his comfort zone to fulfill the team’s requirement and play roles he has not been accustomed to in the early part of his career.
“My mindset or how I played cricket is, or what I’ve been taught growing up, is that a player has to be flexible and be willing to do whatever the team requires, whether it’s batting at No. 1 or No. 7, whatever the team requires of you, you will have to do,” Rahul said after India’s dominant win over Bangladesh on Thursday.
“So wicket-keeping is what the team wants me to do. And batting at No. 5 is what they expect me to do. And they’ve given me enough time. I’ve been in that position for the last few years.

“So it gives you time to understand that role. And yeah, each person has his own game, but also understands what their role in the team is. And each of us try to do our best.”
Personally, the Mehidy catch was “very satisfying” for Rahul as it was proof of his hard work and commitment to the team. “My role in the team now is to wicket keep and I’ve been working hard on it and really happy that I could and I’ve been able to do the job in the last few games,” he said.
“Yeah, and I work hard on my wicket-keeping. And it’s good to see that when I get the opportunity to take some good catches, I do that.”
Rahul provided some interesting insight on how he goes about the varying challenges of opening the innings and batting down the order. “I try and see the scoreboard and bat when coming in at No. 5,” he said. “That’s something that I think gives you the best opportunity to do well in the middle.

“When you’re opening the batting you don’t have the pressure of the scoreboard as much. You’re trying to set the game up. You can play your shots. I’ve done that throughout my life. So I know that process.
“In the middle order, you just need to be a little bit more patient and take some calculated risk. That’s the challenge, how to balance taking risks and when do you have to play your singles, when you have to rotate the strike. It is about understanding that.”
His role behind the stumps also means that he has the best view, after the opposing batsmen, of India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and the in-form left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
“It’s fun,” Rahul said of standing up to a world-class variety of bowlers. “We have a really good bowling attack.
“I don’t really get much chances to keep against them in practice, but when you play three games in a week, you don’t really need to keep in practice as much. You just have to stay physically fresh and trust your skill.”