KL Rahul Reveals How Time Off The Field Helped Him

Just when it looked like KL Rahul has blown away his chance to seal the number four spot after failing to deliver against New Zealand, the right-handed batsman scored a stunning century against Bangladesh in the second warm-up game. The ton has pretty much put him in the front of the queue for the much-talked about No. 4 slot in the India middle order.

When India had announced the squad last month, chief selector MSK Prasad had said that Vijay Shankar would play at number four. However, India tried out Rahul in both the warm-up ties at number four. Rahul then fully capitalised on the opportunity by scoring his first ton in blue jersey (one-day cricket) since his ODI debut. The right-handed batsman scored 108 from 99 balls to help India win the game by 95 runs.

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India were 50/2 when Rahul came out to bat but wickets of Virat Kohli and Vijay Shankar saw Bangladesh bounce back. India were 102/4 and the game could have gone anywhere from that point. However, Rahul and MS Dhoni shared a huge partnership of 164 runs for the fifth wicket to bail India out of trouble. Dhoni scored a century too as India posted 359 for 7 before bowling out Bangladesh for just 264. Following the game, Rahul revealed how his time away from the game helped him.

“The time off from game does give a player opportunity to reflect on himself and it wasn’t any different for me,” he said.

“I spent some time with friends and family. It was important as I have been on the road for a long time. Given the situation, that’s not how I would have liked to get some time off but anyway I tried to make the best use of it,” he added.

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Rahul along with Pandya was suspended by the BCCI after the chat show episode. He made a comeback through the India A team, had a stunning IPL and will now be looking to make it count in the World Cup.