Follow UsFor the longest time, the question that surrounded KL Rahul was how to maximise his potential. While everyone was aware of what Rahul would bring to the table, none extracted the best out of him.
Enter Abhishek Nayar, who has worked with multiple behemoths in the past, such as Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik and many other cricketers. During his stint as India’s assistant coach, Nayar revealed that he got a message from then Indian skipper Rohit to bring the ‘aggressive outlook out’ from Rahul.
"When I first picked up that role, I remember I had a conversation with Rohit, and he said that one of the things he was really keen on me doing was working with KL and bringing out a more aggressive outlook to how KL played the game, and bringing the best out of him,” Nayar told ESPNCricinfo.
“Because he believed strongly that KL would play a major role in the Champions Trophy, World Cup and everything going forward, including the BGT [Border-Gavaskar Trophy] and the Tests in England," Nayar added.
As it turned out, Rahul played quite a crucial role throughout India’s special patch of form, where they won the Champions Trophy without dropping a single game. Batting at a tricky position, Rahul scored 140 runs in the competition, averaging 140.00, while striking at 97.90, often taking the attack to the opposition.
It wasn’t just the white ball format that Rahul slowly started to dominate, but also the red-ball format, where he now became the most dependable Indian batter in SENA conditions. Rahul averaged 30.66 in Australia when the rest of the Indian batters were struggling, and continued the same form in the ongoing Test series against England.
Already, Rahul has scored 179 runs in the Test series, with 137 in the second innings of the first Test at Headingley. So, what really changed for Rahul, the batter? Nayar reveals that the change in mindset transformed Rahul, the batter.
"There is outside noise, there are expectations that one has from oneself, expectations that somehow over the years, people and yourself, you infuse into your mind," Nayar said.
"So you start thinking this is what you need to do, and this is what you need to achieve, and people keep talking about your potential and your talent, and you keep adding more pressure saying that because everyone thinks I'm talented and because I have the potential, I need to live up to it, and those expectations sometimes weigh on you your shoulders, and those expectations sometimes really pull you down in a lot of ways and don't let you be you. That was something that I think was one of those things that was holding him back,” he added.
"It takes the fun out of the game. This doesn't let you play the kind of cricket you want to play, and more than anything, it kills your instinct completely. So it makes you a very predetermined player, devoid of natural flow."