The past few months have been troublesome in the life of the Karnataka-born batsman KL Rahul. Form on the field and controversies off it have halted his development as a player and also impacted the hopes of securing a place in India’s World Cup squad to an extent. Rahul, however, is determined to not let the pressure of performing in order to book a WC spot affect his performance for the IPL franchise.
“As players it is important that we try and perform well for our respective IPL franchises and team. It is also very important to stay in the present. If you do well, you are automatically in the race for selection. But if you worry about the selection, then you put too much pressure on yourself,” he was quoted as saying by IANS. “I am not somebody who is thinking too much about the World Cup spot. I just want to perform for KXIP and enjoy the IPL. T20 cricket is all about having fun.”
“I don’t know anything about too much pressure or anything. It was only two games so the talks don’t get to me and I don’t read them. Yes, it is always disappointing not to score and get off to a good start. But then, it is a long tournament and it is all about working hard and one good knock helps you to get back to scoring,” he said.
“It is T20 cricket, you have to try and play a few shots. You have to attack and make the best use of the first six overs and as a result, you might end up playing a few bad shots and these things are bound to happen. You cannot really worry too much about it and you learn from your mistakes. You have to play aggressively as it is T20 cricket and you can’t play in any other way. Have to keep your chin up and look forward,” he added.
When asked about the wicket-keeping responsibilities – something that might work in his favour as far as the World Cup selection is concerned – Rahul said: “Mostly for the team composition. It is a team game and especially when you don’t bowl, you can add value by keeping wickets. I have done that last year as also for RCB. This is something I enjoy doing in T20 cricket and I am all for the team.”
