By Karan Agrawal 
India is all set to face New Zealand for the first time in the Champions Trophy since the final of the tournament in 2000. Having already qualified for the semi-final final, both teams will look to fine-tune certain areas of their game before the knockout match. For India, there were concerns about the fitness of senior players like Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami, but wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul confirmed that the duo is fit and available for the last group match on Sunday. Rahul, who attended the press conference after India’s practice session on Friday, talked in depth about the challenges of batting in the middle order and about the pressure of being preferred as the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper in ODIs over Rishabh Pant.
The Challenge
When asked about the challenges which a batter has to face while batting in different positions KL said “It’s never easy for anyone on the team to be moving in different places but yeah, that’s, that’s how the game goes,” Rahul has batted in seven different positions in ODIs since his debut in 2016. Currently batting at number six, Rahul was quite vocal about the difficulty batters have faced in rotating strike while batting on a slow wicket in Dubai. In the words of Rahul, “Rotating the strike as soon as you go in against spinners or fast bowlers has been a little bit of a challenge.” “So, once those dot balls start to pile up on a batsman, obviously the pressure builds up and you have to play that big shot or you have to play really short. And that obviously gives the opposition and the bowlers an opportunity. So that has been the challenge. And we’re trying to find ways to see how we can rotate the strike a lot more.”
The Plan
Rahul alluded to the fact that the wicket in Dubai is not conducive for hitting boundaries at will, and the batters have to take risks to keep the scoring rate in check. “We’re all very happy hitting boundaries and scoring boundaries, but on this wicket, that is very difficult. We have to make sure that the dot ball percentage is really less and then the risk that you take, the opportunities that you are going to take is suited for this type of wicket and against a certain bowler.”
The Conversation
Rahul added that the middle-order batters like him and Hardik rely on the output given by batters who have batted for a long period of time to get an idea about how the wicket is behaving. “We are having chats within the group and seeing whoever’s batted a lot. Shubham has batted a lot on that wicket, Virat batted quite a lot in the last game Shreyas has been there. So just to go and speak to them and see, I’m sure they’ve gone through that same challenge as someone like me, Hardik (Pandya) or Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja). When we walk in Axar (Patel), it’s harder for us. “So just speaking to them and seeing what they did or wherever the areas they were trying to target, whether they were trying to target the square of the wicket or play much straighter. So those are the kind of conversations you have, and then it’s very individual. You see what suits you best,” he said.
The Pressure
The wicketkeeper batter admitted the fact that there is pressure on him as a wicketkeeper with Rishabh Pant being a part of the squad. “There is – I won’t lie,” he conceded. “He’s obviously a very, very talented player, and he’s shown all of us what he can do and how aggressive and how quickly he can change the game. So yes, there’s always the temptation for the team to either play him or play me. There’s always that.”
“If I’m given the opportunity, I try and see what I can do best. I am not trying to compete with Rishabh, or I am not trying to play like him, or when he gets his opportunities, I am sure he is not going to try to play like anybody else. He is picked on the basis of how he can play and what he can provide for the team, and the same applies to me. So, I try and do what I do best and try to stick to my game.”
The Opportunity
KL Rahul was quick to accept that there will be criticism if he fails, and that is something he is aware of. The right-hander was also of the opinion that if he can do well on the field, it gives him immense joy. In the words of Rahul “I will fail sometimes, I will make mistakes, I will make mistakes in reading the game and that’s the beauty of sport and for me if my heart is in the right place and if I am thinking that this is the best way for me to win the game, then I can go back home and sleep peacefully. But I mean, yes, I do read about it. And if it’s valid, then I’ll take it into account.”