Injury-prone Rahul hails Kohli for standing by him

colombo — Injury-prone India opener Lokesh Rahul on Thursday termed captain Virat Kohli’s backing as a massive “confidence booster” during the tough times he has endured in his short international career.

Rahul returned to action in the second Test after missing the series opener due to viral fever. He made instant impact, scoring a solid 57 before being run out following a mix up with day one centurion Cheteshwar Pujara.

After the day’s play, Rahul said that the knowledge that his place in the playing eleven is secure — as Kohli had put it in the pre-match interaction — helps him during his repeated recovery phases.

“It makes a massive difference. It gives me so much confidence, not just now but even after the surgery the support staff, the coaches, the boys were constantly messaging me and saying ‘whenever you are ready, get ready sooner, the team misses you’ and small things like that make a lot of difference,” said Rahul.

“That kept me motivated, that woke me up each morning to go to physiotherapy and do my boring rehab. It gives you confidence that team is backing you, team trusts you, waiting for you to come back into the team and that makes a big difference and I come back with lot more confidence.

“I can walk into the team with ease in my head, there is no pressure me losing my position which is great and which the captain and coaches have always given me that support which has played a big role in my small career so far,” the opener said further.

Rahul is no stranger to injuries or illness, and he has been in/out of the Indian team in his short 18Test career.

In fact, hardly a season has gone past since his debut in 2014 when he has not been out of the team nursing some or the other injury. It has obviously made a serious impact on a young and promising player.

“We as sportsmen, we’re not used to just sitting at home and being at home all day. We want to go out, we want to play sport, we want to be in the gym, want to train, we want to hit balls, and when you’re not physically able to do that, it’s really tough. It starts playing on the mind a lot more.”

Rahul was immaculate in his innings on day one at the SSC when he was entangled in a mix-up with Pujara. The opener said that he is not yet at a desperate stage to convert these missed chances into hundreds, although he is left ruing too many such moments.

“I wasn’t upset with him. Run outs happen, it could have happened with anybody. It could have been him who got run out and it could have been my mistake. I wasn’t disappointed about that. I was disappointed because I have been away from the game so long and I didn’t want to get out at all.” — PTI

I’ve never chased numbers, firstly. My job as an opening batsman is to give the team a good start, lay a solid foundation and I think I’ve done that so far Lokesh Rahul