Former Australian batter Michael Hussey wants KL Rahul to be mentally strong and put the external pressure on the backburner in the upcoming five-match Test series against Australia. Hussey reckons it will be imperative for Rahul to trust his game and stay confident in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series.
Rahul has been under the pump for his low returns with the bat and he will look to turn the tables against Australia. The flamboyant batter has all the experience under his belt and Hussey wants the Karnataka player to control the controllables.
Rahul returned with scores of 0 and 12 in the opening Test against New Zealand and he was dropped in the next two Test matches. Furthermore, Rahul returned with scores of 4 and 10 in the second unofficial Test match against Australia A, which the home team won by six wickets.
Rahul has scored 2981 runs in 53 Test matches at a below-par average of 33.88.
“He’s another fantastic player. So I guess, just to trust his game and to be confident with whatever he does, you know that’s the most important thing. We know how good he is. And so I guess there’s a lot of external people who put these doubts in your mind,” Michael Hussey said while talking to TOI.
Mr. Cricket added, “I just hope that he just doesn’t worry about all the external stuff and just concentrates on his game, his preparation, and just tries to play his best possible cricket, because when he’s playing at his best, he’s one of the best players in the world. I’m sure if he can start well in the series, get a good score under his belt early, then that’ll help his confidence the rest of the series.”
On the other hand, India’s newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir is also under the pump after the team’s series loss against New Zealand. Hussey said Gambhir is a competitor and he will fight all the way.
“He (Gambhir) was a great competitor and he would fight all the way for victory. And so I have no doubt, watching him, sort of being involved with the IPL and teams that he’s been involved in, he loves to win, and he loves to compete and I’m not expecting anything different from this Indian team,” said Hussey.
The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.
