KL Rahul reveals Mitchell Starc is the toughest bowler he has faced

Indian opener KL Rahul admitted that Mitchell Starc was the toughest bowler that he has faced so far in his career. The 24-year-old batsman who has established himself as a regular in all three formats for India in 2016, also spoke about his two best knocks so far and admitted he is looking forward to facing the left-arm pacer again.

“I haven’t been intimidated by anyone, but Mitchell Starc is the toughest bowler I have faced so far. He bowls at serious pace and has great control over his deliveries. We will be facing him very soon. I’m looking forward to the challenge of facing him. I will enjoy playing him. The tougher the challenge, the more I enjoy batting,” he said in an interview with Mumbai Mirror.

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In case you didn’t know...

KL Rahul faced up against Starc in his second Test at Sydney, where he went onto make his maiden Test century. The left-arm fast bowler was just playing in his 15^th Test and was yet to establish himself as a regular in the Australian Test line-up.

Starc finished with five wickets in the game included that of KL Rahul in the first innings, in which he scored 110 in a Test match that ultimately ended in a draw as India couldn’t chase 349 on the final day. Since then, Starc has established himself as a regular in all three formats while KL Rahul became just the third Indian to score a century in all three formats.

The heart of the matter

KL Rahul and Mitchell Starc have come a long way since their first and so far only meeting in the Sydney and it was interesting to note that Rahul admitted that even early in his career when the left-arm was thought of as a limited-overs bowler, he was someone who troubled the right-hander.

Speaking about his best innings in international cricket so far, the 24-year-old picked out the 199 against England at Chennai, which helped India win the Test series 4-0 and the century against West Indies in the T20I at Florida, which helped him become the the only Indian to have a century in Tests, ODIs and T20Is in 2016.

What next?

199 in the Chennai Test against England would have brought back some confidence for Rahul who was struggling for runs before then and the focus now turns to facing the Australian pacer in the four-match Test series.

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Sportskeeda’s take

Although Starc was more experienced when the pair last met, KL Rahul has since then come on leaps and bounds. He is now a regular for India across all formats and it will be interesting to see not just how he takes on Starc in the Test series against Australia which begins in February but also where he plays in the ODIs and T20Is against England that precede it.