After a four-month injury layoff, KL Rahul made an impressive return to the Indian team, scoring a brilliant 57 before his promising innings came to an end due to a disastrous run-out on the first day of the ongoing second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo. And perhaps the reason behind that it is his unusual yet a very tough pre-match practise method.
Ahead of every match, the 25-year old hit a few balls with a stump to gain confidence and the much-needed timing. In a video posted by BCCI, Rahul revealed he picked up the drill from his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate AB de Villiers and said that practising with a stump helps him to watch the ball closely in the match.
“I have been doing it for a while now. I picked it up from AB de Villiers. He used to do that a lot in RCB nets. I do it mostly because it helps me to watch the ball a lot more closer and helps me maintain my shape. It’s very difficult to time the ball with such a small thing so it gives me a perfect idea of where I need to hit the ball. I don’t do it for too long, it’s just a few balls so that I can get a little confidence.
Here is the clip of the batsman practising with one stump:
https://twitter.com/PRINCE3758458/status/893302045524058112
Batting coach Sanjay Bangar also spoke on Rahul’s batting drill and said that a good practise session increased the batsman’s chances of middling the ball during the match.
“Every player has his pre-match routine, so does KL Rahul. What he does on pre-match days is that he likes to bat with one stump. The intention behind that is that if he can lay stump on the ball with such a thin margin, there is more chance of the ball hitting the middle of the bat when he goes out there in the middle,” said Bangar.
“He likes to play without moving his feet and the intention there is to read with his head and shoulder and that actually helps to get a better footwork,” he added.
Well, it seems Rahul is reaping the rewards for the drill as he has now scored 7 half-centuries in his last eight innings with six of them coming on the trot.