‘Want to get back in T20I team, World Cup is on my mind…’: KL Rahul

JAIPUR: Following a solid Indian Premier League (IPL) season, Delhi Capitals (DC) wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul said that he wants to make a comeback to the Indian T20I team, and the next year’s T20 World Cup is on his mind.

KL ended an exciting IPL season with the bat following a 21-ball 35 during the clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS), with his run tally being 539 runs in 13 innings at an average of 53.90 and a strike rate of 149.72, with a century and three fifties. He ended as the seventh-highest run-getter of the season and DC’s top run-getter.

Being a consistent run-getter is not a problem for KL, who has crossed the 500-run barrier in seven out of 12 seasons and crossed the 600-run mark in four seasons. He has scored 5,222 runs in 145 appearances with five centuries and 40 fifties and is the only player to make tons for three different IPL teams: Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals. He also won the Orange Cap for most runs in the 2020 season, with 670 runs in 14 matches, including a century and five fifties.

Under scrutiny was always his scoring rate. He played his final T20I for India during the 2022 T20 WC semifinal against England, which India lost by 10 wickets. During the tournament, his strike rate was under scrutiny, as he scored 128 runs with two fifties in six innings at a poor SR of 120.75. His habit of playing out maidens also invited plenty of trolling from fans. Following the semifinal, Team India moved on from a core of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, investing in younger and more hard-hitting talent like Tilak Varma, Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson etc.

“Yes, I want to get back in the T20I team and the World Cup is in my mind, but for now it is just trying to enjoy how I am playing right now,” Rahul said in a Sky Sports interview with Nasser Hussain as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

His strike rate of 149.72 this season is a massive rise from the past five seasons: 136.12, 113.22, 135.38, 138.80 and 129.34. His best strike rate came in the 2018 season, when he scored 659 runs at a strike rate of 158.41.

“I obviously had some time to think about my white-ball game and white-ball cricket; I was quite happy with my performances and where I was. But there was a time probably 15 months ago or 12 months ago where I realised that the game is slightly getting ahead or it is changing and becoming much more faster, and I said this in an interview as well, that it is become more about the team that hits more boundaries is winning the games more often than the team that is, I cannot say playing smarter, but the team that does not hit as many boundaries is always finding themselves on the losing side,” he added.

Rahul had once found himself under immense scrutiny and trolling for his “strike rate is overrated” remark. Also notably, current DC mentor Kevin Pietersen had also once remarked on social media that “Watching KL is like sitting and watching the paint dry on the wall.”

The Karnataka-born was not a part of India’s T20 World Cup winning squad in 2024, and he said that it gave him time to think about his T20 game, where he needed to get better and catch up in order to earn his way back into the national side.

“Just sitting and thinking about these things, I have come up with certain things, obviously with the help of coaches that I have worked with. Abhishek Nayar is one of the guys I have worked with in the last 12 months quite a lot. He has come into the Indian team as a batting coach [but has been removed since], so I spent a lot of time with him and he really helped in helping me change my thinking and helped me work on my game,” he added.

Speaking about Pietersen’s remarks on social media, KL said that “it is good to have a little bit of banter.”

“I mean, these were times when I still used to read and see stuff that was said about me. There is obviously a drive if someone is saying that I cannot do something, or someone is saying that it is the most boring player to watch in T20 cricket or the powerplay… I mean, there is a bit more in me when I go into the next game.”

“I have spent a couple of weeks with KP here at the IPL, and you realise that they do not mean any harm to you, just what he has seen on TV, and it is what he felt, and he said that on TV. So there is nothing more. So it has been easy for me since I started seeing it that way: if someone is a commentator or a fellow cricketer has said that, obviously it is what he has seen and what he feels, so that you do not take it personally, I think that is a bit easier,” he concluded. (ANI)