India batsman KL Rahul has revealed how the two-week suspension imposed by the BCCI changed his approach towards cricket for the better. Rahul did not have the best of starts to the year 2019 as the BCCI slapped him and allrounder Hardik Pandya with bans for some comments they made during a chat show.
Rahul and Pandya were sent home the tour of Australia; however, the Committee of Administrators lifted their suspensions two weeks later and both were cleared to play. After his return, Rahul showed a spike in form scoring 572 runs from 13 ODI innings and 356 runs from nine matches in T20Is in 2019. Before the Covid-19 pandemic stopped cricket all around the world, Rahul had done well this year as well, scoring 350 runs from six ODI innings and 323 runs from seven innings in T20Is.
“A lot of credit for my consistent performance goes to how differently I started thinking after 2019. With this suspension and with all that happened, I was tempted or I was in a way wanted to be selfish and play for myself, and I failed. So, I told myself I need to go out and do what the team wants me to do,” Rahul told India Today.
So impressive was Rahul’s form at the top that fellow opener Rohit Sharma backed him to be India’s first-choice opener. After Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the 2019 World Cup due to a fractured thumb, Rahul did a fantastic job as India’s opener as he and Rohit stitched India’s highest opening partnership in the World Cup when they added 189 against Sri Lanka in their final league match. This, just days after the pair had put on 180 against Bangladesh.
“Humbled by Rohit’s words (that KL Rahul is the first choice and then it’s decided between me and Dhawan in T20Is for opening slot). I have been a huge fan of his batting and I have played with him for a few years now. He is someone who is in the team, how do I say, like some cricketers get dumbstruck after watching Sachin Tendulkar, they don’t know what to say. When I am with Rohit off the field, I am still not been able to get through,” Rahul said.
“He is someone in the team who has given me the sense that he has a lot of faith in me and as a senior player, I have seen that he has backed me and stood by by me on a lot of instances. When senior players feel like there is a guy who can take responsibility, a player who has not played consistently for the country, it gives a lot of confidence.”
