ENG vs IND 2021: I am really focussed on giving good starts to my team – KL Rahul

One of the biggest positives for the Indian team from the first Test match against England was the good show from their opener KL Rahul. The flamboyant batsman scored a fine knock of 84 runs in the first innings and also contributed 26 runs in the second dig.

Meanwhile, Rahul played a Test match after a long gap of two years but he was able to grab his chance with both hands in the absence of Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal. Rahul had last played a Test match against West Indies in 2019

Rahul had to open with Rohit Sharma in the difficult English conditions against James Anderson and Stuart Broad and he was able to negate the new ball. Both the Indian openers provided the perfect platform for the team as they added 97 runs for the opening alliance. However, India lost four wickets in a jiffy but Rahul was able to hold one end up.

In fact, Rahul left the ball with aplomb, which is always crucial to be successful in the English conditions. The flamboyant batsman knew where his off-stump was and played the ball late, which is key in England. Furthermore, he forced England bowlers to bowl to his strengths as he was patient in his approach.

Rahul stated that he wants to keep giving good starts to his team in the upcoming matches after the first Test match ended in a draw.

“It’s just one match now. Yes, I batted well, it was good to be in the middle. It’s been a long time since I played red-ball cricket, so I’m quite happy to be back in the Test team and I want to make my opportunities count. It’s important in English conditions to give openers a good start, so I am really focusing on doing that for my side,” said Rahul while replying to a query from ANI.

Rahul had scored a fine knock of 149 runs at the Oval in 2018 against England after he struggled to get going. The stylish batsman from Karnataka added that he enjoys batting in the English conditions.

“Batting in England is a lot of fun. As a batsman if you are in that mind space to go and enjoy in the middle, it’s a great place to bat,” said Rahul.

“Last time, unfortunately, I didn’t score much in the last series but I took a lot of learnings from the series and came here to perform well. I want to give my side a good start and score lots of runs in the series, be it opening the batting or be it middle order,” he added.

The second Test match takes place at Lord’s from August 12.