With the start of 2020, KL Rahul got the new responsibility of wicketkeeping. Interestingly, he has impressed his team with the gloves, to take forward the role in future. Well, Rahul’s childhood coach Samuel Jayaraj said that the right-hand batsman had donned the gloves as soon as he started his career in cricket.
Thus, Rahul cannot be labelled as the ‘accidental wicketkeeper’ for the Indian national cricket team. During the ODI series against Australia, the youngster Rishabh Pant was ruled out of the second game because of concussion which allowed Rahul to be the wicketkeeper.
Since then, Rahul is doing the job in the limited-over format in Team India.
Recently, he played the first T20I series against New Zealand as the wicketkeeper-batsman. On Kiwis shores, he impressively carried out all the roles given to him.
KL Rahul was always a wicket-keeper: KL Rahul
Speaking of the same, the childhood coach of Rahul, Jayaraj revealed that the right-handed batsman has always been a wicketkeeper-batsman right from the start of his career.
Further added, wicketkeeping helped Rahul to increase his concentration.
He was always a wicket-keeper. Wicketkeeping for India has come as a blessing in disguise for him. As a wicketkeeper, you have to keep a vigil on all 300 deliveries behind the wickets. Wicketkeeping has helped him in his batting,” Jayaraj, his childhood coach, told Times of India.
“When he was a kid, I used to ask him to keep the wickets. Wicketkeeping helps you with concentration. You only watch the ball and then move your hands and feet accordingly. That’s how Rahul has become a good batsman,” the coach further added.
Despite keeping the wickets, Rahul showed his class with the bat at various positions to make things fall in place. Against New Zealand, he played the T20I series as an opener and scored 224 runs in the five matches.
For his classic performance, he was awarded as the player of the tournament.
Whereas, in the ODI series, he was handed over the role of finisher. At a new position, he scored 204 runs in three games.
So, Rahul has become an indispensable part of Team India.