MS Dhoni almost killed me with that straight drive, says opener KL Rahul
CUTTACK: Incredulity writ large on his face, KL Rahul asked ‘what lack of form’? The questioner had quizzed him about talk on MS Dhoni’s future, of the kind that eddies every now and then. “He almost killed me with that shot,” said Rahul, breaking into a smile as he referred to a stunning drive off spinner Akila Dananjaya that forced the nonstriker to jump out of harm’s way.
“He is in great shape. I don’t know what form you are talking about. Every time I have played with him or see him on TV, he scores runs. The last time we played here, he got a big hundred (ODI against England where Dhoni got 150 in 127 balls).
“I see him as motivated in the dressing room as I always have. He is contributing in every game, is someone we look up to. He is a match winner,” said Rahul, who top-scored with 61 (48b, 4x7, 1x6).
About his innings, Rahul said: “Every innings is important and given the kind of competition we have, you need to make every opportunity count. I am happy it came off today.”
Rahul attributed his dismissal (bowled by Thisara Perera) to a wrong shot while trying to accelerate. “We had only five overs after that and I was the set batsman, so I had to take a few chances. Maybe, it was the wrong shot. Maybe, the next time I play that shot it goes for a six.”
Rahul, who has a century in all formats of international cricket, said it took him a while to realise he needed to stay true to his game to be successful.
“I have been successful when I have played shots I believe I am blessed with or am good at playing. It did take me a long time but I realised that with my game, I can be successful in T20s. Every player needs one of two innings in whatever format to realise that he is good enough. Once I got that, I tried harder and harder to be more consistent.”
Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga blamed the batting. “It sort of dropped us back to where we were some four months ago.We should have batted 20 overs.”
The bowlers also bowled “too many boundary balls,” he said.