India's veteran batter KL Rahul has drawn parallels between himself and young batting sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal. Rahul, who made his Test debut in 2014, believes Jaiswal, currently on his maiden tour of Australia, shares some similarities with his younger self.
KL Rahul, who has been shuffled in the batting order, was tasked with opening the innings in the first Test against Australia in Perth. This was due to the absence of captain Rohit Sharma, who opted out of the match due to the birth of his second child, Ahaan. Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal formed a promising opening partnership. While Jaiswal was dismissed early for a duck, Rahul played a solid innings of 26 runs off 74 balls before a controversial dismissal.
In the second innings, Jaiswal and Rahul continued their dominant form, frustrating the Australian bowlers. They built a massive opening stand of 201 runs, with Jaiswal scoring a magnificent century (161 runs off 297 balls) and Rahul contributing a solid 77 runs off 176 balls. Their partnership played a crucial role in India's convincing 295-run victory.
Even in the practice match against Australia's Prime Minister's XI, Jaiswal and Rahul opened the innings, adding 75 runs for the first wicket. This partnership, along with Rohit Sharma's decision to sacrifice his opening spot, showcased the team's commitment to nurturing young talent and building a strong opening pair.
I saw a little bit of myself in Yashasvi Jaiswal: KL Rahul
Rahul, during a pre-match press conference ahead of Adelaide Test, revealed that he shared his experience with Jaiswal during their first innings together.
"It's the first time I'm batting with him, I don't think we have batted together before this. In the first innings, we did not get enough time together, but we did have a few chats before in training sessions, and I try to share whatever little I've learned from playing here in Australia. Just tried to speak with him, calm him down. I saw a little bit of myself when I was here 10 years ago, opening the batting for the first time," Rahul said in the press conference.
Looking ahead to the upcoming pink-ball Test in Adelaide which will get underway from December 6, Rahul expressed his preparedness for the unique challenges of the format. He shared his insights on how he has prepared himself for this crucial match.
"This will be my first pink ball Test match. I don't have the game experience like some other players have in the team. It is just about speaking to the guys and get to know what were the things that they found hard and how did they manage to adjust and make changes. In practice, I felt that it was a little different in terms of how you watch this ball," Rahul concluded.
