KL Rahul speaks about his preparations for Australian Test series

KL Rahul

Karnataka were playing Tamil Nadu in a Vijay Hazare Trophy match at Secundrabad on Monday when, during a drinks break, KL Rahul received the news of his selection in the Indian Test team for the tour of Australia.

"We were fielding against Tamil Nadu today (at Secunderabad) when the substitute fielder came at the drinks break to inform me about my selection and also that Robin (Uthappa) and Vinay (Kumar) have been included in the One-Day squad against Sri Lanka. It felt nice as we also won by big margin,” the 22-year-old told PTI

Rahul’s centuries in both the innings against a Central Zone attack consisting of Pankaj Singh, Ishwar Pandey and Piyush Chawla in the Duleep Trophy final at Delhi all but assured his spot, and his selection, therefore, was along the expected lines, especially when you consider the lack of quality openers that India have.

Wasnt aware of selectors’ presence

"Frankly speaking, I was not even aware that selectors were present. Also, I was more into a zone where I wanted to score a big hundred. On the opposite there was Pankaj (Singh), who has recently played Test match for India, there is Piyush (Chawla), who has played for India and Ishwar (Pandey), who was with the national team. So it was a potent bowling attack,” Rahul said.

He also said that the twin centuries were among the best that he has scored, but felt that there have been better knocks played by him. "Those two centuries were certainly special as it came on the big stage but I believe I have played better innings under tougher circumstances for my state Karnataka during Ranji Trophy."

However, a bigger challenge awaits the Karnataka boy now as he gets set for his maiden tour Down under with the senior team. He can take heart from the fact that players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, etc., also received their first national call ahead of an overseas tour and performed quite well in their debut series.

Will practice with wet tennis balls before leaving

The right-hander thanked his coach Samuel Jayaraj for making him the cricketer that he is today and said that he wants to go fully prepared for the trip.

"If I have got results this season, it was because of the hard work put in during off-season with my coach Samuel Jayaraj. Once I am back in Bangalore, I am planning to practise against the wet tennis balls from 18 yards and also with plastic ball on concrete pitches to reduce my reaction time for strokes,” he added.

He also said that he was planning to use bats that would have a “sweet” spot higher up the bat owing to the bouncy pitches of Australia and that he hasn’t even thought about using light weight ones.

"No I haven't thought about reducing the weight of my bat. I didn't do that when I went to Australia with India A but yes I would use bats which would have the "sweet spot" a bit on the higher side rather than the meat being at the bottom. These are my little ways of preparing for the tour," he said.