Going into the limited-overs leg of the England tour, the spotlight was on elegant opener KL Rahul, who received a brilliant opportunity after regular opener Rohit Sharma was out with an injury. Despite all expectations behind him, Rahul endured a disastrous ODI series as he looked clueless against the English seamers at the top of the order. His approach in the first T20I of muscling everything away got the better of him cheaply as well.
In the second T20I at Nagpur which was a do or die for hosts, Rahul lit up with a brilliant half- century that ultimately turned out to be match-winning. Post India’s series win at Bengaluru, skipper Virat Kohli lauded the youngster for his work ethics and showered praise on him.
“Rahul is someone who has a great character. He is mentally tough. He is hardworking and takes a lot of pride in his cricket. That is evident,” said Kohli in the post match press conference at Bengaluru.
Maintaining Rahul is a very “smart” individual, Kohli said:
“He is not arrogant. He is confident and humble – a rare combination. He knows what he exactly wants to do, so that’s a great thing. I wish I was as smart as him when I was 24.
“He knows what he needs to do when put under pressure, and backs his game. It is important to back guys like that and identify guys like that. In the last 11 months or so since the IPL season, it is great to see the way he has matured. I hope he can keep doing the good work for the Indian team,” Kohli concluded.