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KL Rahul on a high

Karnataka batsman followed up his Test hundred against Australia with a triple hundred in Ranji, and the stint at highest level has taken his confidence a few notches up

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KL Rahul has a star moment at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday
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Indian Test cricket's latest batting sensation, KL Rahul, surveyed his team-mates who were batting at the nets adjacent to each other before wearing his thigh pad and other protective gear and take a knock at the nets.

The 22-year-old right-hander need not have done so. For, only last week did he become the first batsman from Karnataka to score a triple century in Ranji Trophy – 337 in 11 hours and 11 minutes against Uttar Pradesh on his home turf, Bangalore.

But that knock being a thing of the past, Rahul was looking ahead, keen to do well at the Wankhede Stadium that is known to test the batsmen early on. Friday's last Group A match between Karnataka and Mumbai will be Rahul's maiden appearance at the Wankhede. And, he is determined to do well here.

There were no airs about Rahul, one who had just last month scored a magnificent maiden Test century in only his second game. If at all there is any change, it is just that he is a lot more confident after having made his Test appearance. Wearing the India cap has take him to a different level.

“You can see that the body language itself has totally changed,” said Karnataka skipper R Vinay Kumar. “The confidence level is very high. You can see that compared to other batsman, he is playing freely. Getting the (Test) hundred has made him more confident. So much so that in the last game when we played against Praveen Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), who was bowling really well, Rahul tackled him brilliantly.”

In the 80-year Ranji history, it did come as a surprise that Karnataka, who have produced many batting stalwarts, did not have a single Ranji triple ton until Rahul did it last week. “May be it was meant for Rahul,” Vinay said.
So much does a Test century does to a youngster, especially when it comes in your first or second game.

The confidence of Rahul, the latest Test player from Karnataka, has rubbed on to the shoulders of his team-mates. As Vinay said: “Rahul is a youngster and is in this fourth season. He is performing really well and it will be healthy competition between Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Robin Uthappa and others. All take it in a positive way and match his performance.”

Had Rahul not got out on 337, caught on the boundary, he had set his sights on 400. Such are his powers of concentration that there was not blemish in that knock, said a team official who saw it from close quarters.

Mumbai veteran batsman Wasim Jaffer, who has two triple tons in first-class cricket, said that Rahul is cut out for the long run. “Scoring that magnificent Test hundred is a clear indication that he is one for the future,” Jaffer said on Thursday.

It did not surprise Jaffer that Rahul fell for rash strokes in his first Test for scores of 3 and 1. “That's due to the pressures of playing Test cricket. But he came back brilliantly in his next Test,” said Jaffer, owner of two Test double centuries.

Karnataka team manager, B Siddarama, saw a whole lot of difference between Rahul before Australia and after. “The way he was toying with the spinners after his return from Australia is unbelievable. He takes on the spinners with supreme confidence, perhaps gained from the manner in which he lofted Nathan Lyon during his century knock,” Siddarama said.

 

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