KL Rahul was India's hero in the second ODI against Sri Lanka, with an unbeaten 64 off 103 balls helping the Men in Blue complete an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ongoing series.
Coming in to bat at no. 5, Rahul played himself into a stable innings while chasing Sri Lanka's 215 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, especially with India struggling at 86 for four. After the match, the opener was appreciative of his new role in the side, and credited skipper Rohit Sharma for helping him acclimatise to batting so deep in the middle order.
"Batting at No. 5 has helped me understand my game better. At No. 5, you have to face spin straightaway; I like balls coming onto the bat but Rohit (Sharma) has been pretty clear that he wants me to bat at No. 5, so that's what I am trying to do," said Rahul after India won the match by four wickets.
Rahul is taking a liking to bat at 5 as it gives him time to ease into the batting, "The good thing about batting at No. 5 is you don't have to rush. You can take a shower, put your feet up and watch the game. But I always think about what the team needs. If you can read the situation when you go in, it helps you and the team."
The wicketkeeper-batter also credited the bowlers for their fighting display. "... Our bowlers bowled really well to keep them to 220-odd. They put up a good fight, and got early breakthroughs to put us under pressure. But I had a good partnership with Shreyas (Iyer) and Hardik (Pandya). We always try to find a way to win, and it was nice to cross the line in the end," said Rahul.
Their batting collapse was stemmed by Rahul, who was able to soak the pressure, as he explained, "In Guwahati (first ODI), the openers put the pressure on the opposition. Then your mindset is to attack, doesn't matter who is bowling. Today, we lost early wickets, so it was important to soak the pressure. If we are chasing 280-300, then we would attack him. But today there was no need," he added.
