“The 100 in South Africa has given me some confidence” – KL Rahul reacts to his 86 in 1st Test vs England

KL Rahul has accepted that he is enjoying playing as a middle-order batter after a brief stint as an opener. He made the comments following his exploits with the bat against England in India's first innings of the ongoing Test in Hyderabad.

The wicketkeeper-batter credited his century during the recently concluded Test series in South Africa for a boost in confidence. Rahul also pointed out the adjustments that he had to make to replicate his overseas success in home conditions.

Rahul said in the post-match show on Jio Cinema:

“The 100 in SA has given me some confidence, also having played 6-7 months of cricket since my injury. The aim was to stay positive when I went out to bat.

"Very different to that of South Africa (on the pitch) - a bit of turn, it became slower and slower as the ball went old. [It] Was a challenge. I had to wait for my opportunity to play shots.”

He added:

“[I am] Enjoying batting in the middle-order. I did enjoy batting in the top-order for a long time, but here you get some time to put your feet up, watch as to how the ball is doing, what the bowlers are doing and it gives time to plan your innings.”

Rahul scored 86 runs off 123 balls, including two sixes and eight boundaries. He stitched a couple of 50+ partnerships with Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja.

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“The chat was to bat as long as possible” – KL Rahul on India’s gameplan against England

KL Rahul further revealed that the hosts wanted to bat throughout day as they extended their first innings lead to 175 at stumps on Day 2. He added that the hosts were not rushing to get a result. He said:

“It's only the second day. We just wanted to bat the full day and get as many runs as possible (on the team plan). The chat was to bat as long as possible and everyone to bat and score as many runs as we could.”

Apart from KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravindra Jadeja also scored in their 80s.

At stumps on Day 2, India were 421/7 after 110 overs, with Jadeja (81 off 155) and Axar Patel (35 off 62) at the crease.

Earlier on Day 1, the hosts bundled out England for 246 in 64.3 overs. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared three wickets apiece, while Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah bagged two each.

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