KL Rahul has taken Indian cricket by a ferocious storm and there seems to be absolutely no way of stopping him. In his brief career, Rahul has already notched up five centuries, all of which have come away from home. His exploits in the T20I against West Indies in Florida reminded fans of his ability to not just play test cricket, but even adjust to the requirements of T20I cricket.
But there’s another trick up his sleeve which makes the Karnataka star such a priceless asset. Rahul is a backup wicketkeeper and when needed, can don the gloves. He did well as a keeper for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2016 IPL along with scoring fluently. In a recent chat with ESPN Cricinfo, Rahul admitted that he was geared up to take the challenge of wicketkeeping.
“I know this wicket-keeping challenge can be thrown at me, that’s why I have started working a lot harder on my fitness because keeping will demand different sort of fitness,” Rahul said. “If I have to keep and bat, it will take a lot out of my body. So I have started to train harder and focus on eating right and whatever helps recover my body, I am trying to take care of that. It helps to have great support staff to look after you, they guide as well. I am sure the gloves will come on at some point. I will be ready and I will enjoy that too.”
Rahul also opened up about a short wicketkeeping stint, where he kept wickets against Sri Lanka. “I do carry the keeping gloves, because you never know. I had to keep for an innings in Sri Lanka. I try to keep myself ready, try to keep in touch because you never know when the gloves can be thrown at you, and when you are expected to do a job. When I am expected to do something and I don’t I feel really bad, I like to be prepared. So I try to work on my wicketkeeping,” Rahul further added.