Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): KL Rahul who has been in unbeatable form in this World Cup returns to his 'home ground' with bitter-sweet memories and a difficult battle for recovery both in the mind and the body. For, it was here that he sustained the injury that kept him away for close to six months.
"I am trying to forget. The injury that I had kept me out of the game for four-five months. That was a tough time. Whoever has an injury, they undergo surgery and to come back, it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of patience and you have to go through that which is not very easy,” Rahul said.
"The process of getting surgery done is painful. But the most painful part is doing the rehab after that and trying to get fitter and stronger and convincing yourself that it is not going to happen again,” the formidable Karnataka player added.
Having been in recovery for such a long time and then returning to cricket in the recently held Asia Cup where he was told he was going to bat just five minutes before the match, and scored a century against Pakistan.
He said, “In cricket, whatever ups and downs happen, sometimes you score 100, sometimes you don't, that success or failure you can handle but this painful time that is there, doing physio and coming back into cricket. That was tough."
When KL Rahul came for optional nets yesterday, he carried with him the last painful memory of the injury he sustained during the Indian Premier League match. "I came to the ground, and the last memory of this ground is that of falling down and injuring myself. Hopefully, I can put that aside and I can make some better and happier memories to forget all of that,” he quipped.
KL Rahul, however, said that even though the top order had not allowed match practice for the lower middle order, he said it was no concern. “It is a very good thing when your senior players are making runs and are in form. That is what you expect from players like Rohit (Sharma) and Virat (Kohli),” he said.
Talking about the bat of other players not getting to talk as much as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the vice-captain admitted that big scores have not been scored, and hundreds have not been scored. "But that is the challenge for the other guys. Shubman (Gill) has scored 50, Shreyas has scored 50, I have been batting [well]. When (Ravindra) Jadeja got the chance in the last match, he also finished the match. So, every player has a different role. They are playing their role and responsibility well. (The) team is winning so we're not really worried but whenever anyone gets a chance, I'm sure they'll put their hands up,” added 31-year-old KL Rahul.
The recuperation period worked well with KL Rahul, who has taken a couple of sublime catches, thanks to the fitness that he got time to work on.
“Took the time, the process of getting fitter as well, I did focus a lot on wicket keeping along with my batting. The medical team at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) felt that with the kind of injury I had had, the difficult part was wicket-keeping more than the batting. The things that I've worked harder on are is my fitness and wicket-keeping. Then came batting so it was in that order. So, I did work a lot on my wicket-keeping there and yeah, even when I've come back here, I've spent a lot of time wicket-keeping. I feel like that requires a bit more time and effort from my side,” he elaborated.
KL Rahul has given priority to wicket-keeping because "in India, in these conditions, it will be important to have your technique right, to have your glove work right and so I am trying to tick all of those boxes so I can do my best as a wicket-keeper as well."
Talking about the absence of star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul said, “He does have a very important role for the team… Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) will probably get his chance and we know what Surya can do. So, our confidence is in Surya till Hardik comes back,” he concluded.
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