Go Well Youngster: Cameron Green Reveals KL Rahul's Encouraging Words Behind The Stumps

Young Australian all-rounder Cameron Green has revealed that he was taken aback by Indian wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul’s word of encouragement behind the stumps during the third ODI at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.

Green, 21, made his international debut in the 3rd ODI in Australia’s capital of Canberra and he looked visibly nervous when he entered the cauldron with his side still needing 186 runs to win.

After negotiating the first over by Shardul Thakur, Green, who came into bat at No.5- a spot where he has never batted in his short List-A career- revealed after the game that KL Rahul had a few words of encouragement for him during Ravindra Jadeja’s over, something he reckoned that he’ll never forget.

“I was actually taken aback by how nice KL Rahul was behind the stumps. I think he asked me if I was nervous or not and I just replied saying ‘yeah obviously a little bit nervous’ and he just said ‘go well, youngster’. I thought it would have been the opposite. I think Virat [Kohli] was trying to be pretty loud at the time. I was a bit taken aback by how nice that was. I’ll remember that forever,” Cameron Green was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

“They’re class bowlers, especially their spinners”- Cameron Green

Green managed just 3 runs off his first 12 balls and admitted to being a ‘bit scratchy’ at the start of the innings. He, however, added that his skipper Aaron Finch’s constant words of encouragement helped him get through the initial phase.

”Obviously early I was a bit scratchy…it took me a few balls to get used to it a bit but unfortunately in that situation you had to get yourself in quickly. I had Finchy down the other end who was absolutely awesome. I think every ball he came up to me and said ‘good job youngster, keep going, you’re batting well, you’ve got plenty of time’. Having him at the other end was pretty special for a guy who has played…someone with that experience at the other end helping you out when you first start, I can’t thank him enough.” he revealed.

Green eventually got in his groove as he nailed some eye-catching strokes before getting dismissed thanks to an incredible catch by Ravindra Jadeja while trying to slog-sweep Kuldeep Yadav for a 27-ball 21. The all-rounder heaped high praise on the Indian spinner s and especially Ravindra Jadeja, admitting that he has never faced bowlers of such quality in his career.

“They’re class bowlers, especially their spinners. I haven’t faced quality like that. Jadeja is just a beautiful bowler who knows exactly what he’s trying to do. Trying to spin a couple away from you and dart one back in. It was class bowling. You can do as much research and watch as much footage as you can, which I did, to get a better understanding of how they bowled, but it’s a different beast when you’re actually facing them out in the middle. It took me a couple of overs to get used to it. But I take a lot out of it.” Cameron Green said.

Besides his batting, Cameron Green also sent down four overs in which he conceded 27 runs.

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