Adelaide. Veteran India batsman Lokesh Rahul said he has overcome the ‘mental challenge’ of frequent changes in the batting order and is ready to bat at any position for the team. Rahul performed brilliantly in the first Test against Australia in Perth and scored 26 and 77 while opening the innings in the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma. After Rohit’s return to the team, when Rahul was asked about the batting order for the day-night Test starting from Friday, he said, “Anything can happen (opening the innings or middle order).” ‘
“I just want to be in the playing eleven, which means I should be ready to bat for the team wherever I get a chance,” the 32-year-old batsman told reporters ahead of India’s practice session here. Rahul started his Test career in Australia exactly a decade ago as a middle-order batsman. However, he later played the role of opening batsman as well. Meanwhile, his batting order kept changing continuously in both Test and ODI and this also affected him mentally.
The batsman, who has scored more than 3000 runs in his 54 Test match career, said, “I have batted at many places. It was a bit challenging at first. The challenge was not technically but mentally, how to face the first 20-25 balls.” He said, ”How quickly can I adopt an aggressive stance? How cautious do I need to be? These were the things that troubled me initially.” Rahul has scored eight centuries in Tests, out of which two centuries each in South Africa and England, apart from this he has also scored a century in Australia. The artistic batsman said, “I now have the experience of playing almost all positions in the batting order in Tests and ODIs. This has given me an idea of how I can take my innings forward.
He said that things are clear in his mind regarding the Test matches. Rahul said, “Whether I am batting in the top order or the middle order, if I am successful in playing 30-40 balls in the beginning then everything feels like normal batting. That’s what I try to focus on.” Rahul said that he was already informed about the possibility of playing the opening batting role in Australia. He played the second match of India A’s series against Australia A just before this five-match Test series.
The Karnataka batsman said, “I was told much in advance because I had missed playing the last two matches of the New Zealand (home) series. I was told to be prepared because I might get a chance to open the innings while batting.” He said, ”I got a lot of time to prepare and I have played the role of opening batsman for a long time in my career. I just had to get used to these kinds of situations again. I have batted a lot in the top order and I am well aware of its requirements. He said, “I practiced a lot before the opening Test. I had reached here earlier to adjust to the conditions here. We also played some practice matches and that helped me in my preparation.
