India's KL Rahul previews their Cricket World Cup clash with England
India's KL Rahul previews their Cricket World Cup clash with England
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00:00 England being a demoralized side, when you take on such a side, what is the factors to
00:09 be keggy about?
00:11 Firstly, we don't think of any opposition that way.
00:23 Any team on the given day can be dangerous and I am sure you have covered enough cricket
00:28 matches to know that there is no team that starts off as favourite in a game of cricket
00:34 or in any sport.
00:37 So it's important that we keep doing what we have been doing and focus on our strengths.
00:41 Is it a concern or do you feel that matches are still left to be addressed?
01:04 I don't feel it is a concern.
01:06 It's a good thing when your senior players are running and in form.
01:11 That is what you expect from players like Rohit and Virat.
01:15 Yes, whoever has got the chance, whoever has got the opportunity, they have contributed.
01:23 I know that big scores have not been scored, hundreds have not been scored apart from Virat
01:28 and Rohit, but that is the challenge for the other guys.
01:32 Shubman has scored 50, Shreyas has scored 50, I have been batting, Jaddu scored 50 in
01:37 the last match and finished the match.
01:39 So every player has a different role.
01:41 The role and responsibility that has been given, they are doing it well and the team
01:45 is winning so we are not really worried.
01:48 But whoever gets the chance, I am sure they will put their hands up.
01:51 You had a match in Colombo 5 minutes ago, you started from there and now you have a comeback. Tell us how you stop outside noise? People talk a lot about you. Tell us about this comeback.
02:10 I put a lot of effort and I tried to address it, the outside noise.
02:21 For a long time I thought it would not affect me, but in the last year or so it started affecting me.
02:29 So I realized that I will have to work on it and when I got time outside of the game, I tried to work on that side of mentally.
02:44 You have to get a lot more stronger, a lot more thick skinned.
02:49 So that really helped me being away from the game.
02:55 Same, same.
03:00 He is a specialist for batting, specialist for bowling, specialist coaches that you can really use and work on if you feel that he will help.
03:17 So I tried a bit of everything.
03:20 There is so much pressure in such a big tournament, but when it comes to the fielding medal, the presentation, it looks fun from the outside, but how big does it get to keep the atmosphere good?
03:42 I think it is something that you can see or the fans can see, they are getting to see a version of cricketers that maybe they have not seen before.
03:57 But one thing is that since I have come back to the team, the environment has been such that everyone is enjoying cricket, everyone is in a very happy state of mind.
04:10 We know that when we cross the boundary line, the pressure will come, but the best thing we can do is outside of the field, still try and enjoy ourselves and try to be as calm as possible.
04:24 So atmosphere, we are trying to create that and I think everyone must have realized after playing cricket that this is the biggest thing that you need to keep outside.
04:40 That is the outside noise or pressure, how to handle it.
04:43 In the World Cup or any big tournament, the team that handles pressure better is the team that will more often than not win the game.
04:52 So individually we are all trying to be in that zone.
04:58 And yes, the fielding medal videos that you are watching, it is fun for us also.
05:05 Whatever happens, there is a lot of fun, there is a lot of banter.
05:09 So it is a good way to connect as a group as well.
05:15 Rahul, during the IPL, you were injured in this ground and you must have had a desire to do something great in Lucknow so that you can rise from that injury.
05:26 Have you thought about it?
05:28 I am trying to forget, you are reminding me again and again.
05:31 But the IPL that was incomplete there, you were in 4th position, so you must have done something.
05:38 Yes, I am a little sad about that, but more than that, the injury kept me out of the game for 4-5 months.
05:46 And that was a tough time.
05:49 Whoever has an injury, whoever you talk to, they undergo surgery and to come back, it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of patience.
06:01 And you have to go through that, which is not very easy.
06:04 Whatever happens in cricket, sometimes you make 100, sometimes you don't, you can handle that success or failure.
06:12 But this painful time, coming back into cricket after doing physio, that was tough.
06:21 So hopefully, I can't say that it is not in my mind.
06:27 Yesterday, when I came on the ground, the last memory of this ground is that falling down and injuring myself.
06:33 So hopefully, I can put that aside and tomorrow I can make some better and happier memories to forget all of that.
06:41 You have won all 5 games chasing, so is there any thought at all that the situation might arise where you might have to bat first in a knockout game?
06:56 Is that something that you guys have spoken about at all?
06:59 A little bit. I mean, not really gone too much into it.
07:06 I know few, I think one game we did lose the toss and ended up bowling first as well.
07:11 So toss is not something that the captain or the team can control.
07:16 So whatever opportunities we have gotten, we have done well.
07:19 But again, it will be a good opportunity if we get to bat first before the next stage.
07:28 And in the next 4 games, if we can get to bat first, it will be a good challenge for us to just see how to pace the innings.
07:35 And it's been some time since we have batted first, so it will be useful for the team.
07:43 I want to ask you about your wicket keeping, after coming back from injury, you have taken catches.
07:49 Could you just talk about the work which you have done in enhancing your wicket keeping skills after coming back from injury?
07:57 During the process of getting fitter as well, I did focus a lot on wicket keeping along with my batting.
08:04 The medical team at the NCA felt like with the kind of injury I had, the difficult part would be wicket keeping more than the batting.
08:14 So the things that I have worked much more harder on is my fitness and my wicket keeping.
08:22 Then came batting, so it was in that order. So I did work a lot on my wicket keeping there.
08:27 And even when I have come back here, I have spent a lot of time wicket keeping.
08:31 I feel like that requires a bit more time and effort from my side.
08:37 It's as simple as any other skill, the more you do, the harder you work on it, you have the best chance to do well.
08:47 I am taking wicket keeping seriously because in India, in these conditions, it will be important to have your technique right,
08:56 to have your glove work right. So I am trying to tick all of those boxes so I can do my best as a wicket keeper as well.
09:04 Undefeated in the tournament, obviously there is a nice environment in the dressing room. That's the simplistic answer.
09:14 What's the one thing different about your side, especially in a tournament which is always a high pressure tournament in India,
09:21 it can't get more intense than this. There is something different about your side and India this time.
09:28 What would you put that down to? Anything that hasn't been said in the dressing room together that you can put it down to?
09:35 I think it's just my personal observation and what I think. If I have to put myself as an outsider, if I view the Indian team,
09:47 I think it's just how we have been really aggressive and also our preparations have been really, really good and very particular,
09:56 very spot on from the time at least I have come back into the team since the Asia Cup.
10:01 I think the players have gotten enough chances and enough time in their particular role.
10:08 So that again, I think goes down to preparation. We have prepared really well. So that's where the confidence is coming from.
10:16 You have scored 400 runs in the last two tournaments. Do you think you will be able to chase the same number of runs in the next two tournaments?
10:35 The wicket will be different at every place. So it varies. If you get a batting pitch, then you have to put the runs on the board.
10:45 What else will you do? To give your bowlers a chance, you have to put that extra runs on the board.
10:51 So yeah, I can't comment much on this. The pitches will be good. I mean, there are wickets of 250-260 and 370.
11:02 It really depends on where you are playing. So that is the beauty of playing in different places.
11:10 Final question.
11:13 You bat at number 5. Does that change the way you think about batting at number 5?
11:25 Not really. I think we have quality players in our side. Yes, Hardik has also been a very important member of the team.
11:35 He has been there and he does a very important role for the team. So not having him is also a bit of a miss for the team.
11:44 But it's unfortunate what happened. We also at some point have to look at the now and the present.
11:52 He is not available for this game. So Surya will probably get his chance. We know what Surya can do.
11:58 So our confidence is in Surya till Hardik comes back.
12:03 Final question.
12:05 England as an opposition, the defending champions seem to be unravelling pretty fast. What is the talk in the dressing room about them?
12:20 Honestly, we have not spoken too much about the opposition so far in all these games.
12:26 The talk has mostly been on focusing on our strengths. Yes, we do a little bit of homework about the opposition.
12:34 And like you said, England is the defending champion. Yes, they may not have had a few results going their way.
12:41 But it doesn't change the fact that they are still a very dangerous team. We will not go by what has happened with them in the last few games.
12:51 We will focus on tomorrow and try to compete and beat them again.
12:58 Thank you.
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