KL Rahul: South Africa a new learning experience

Rahul also mentioned that he did not bat poorly in South Africa but failed to convert his starts.

Though KL Rahul‘s stay in South Africa has not been fruitful, the India batsman does not want to consider it as a failure but an experience to do better in future. Playing two Tests, Rahul put up scores of 10, 4, 0 and 16 but will be back in search of run and form as India play T20Is with the hosts. India lost the Test series 1-2 and are currently leading the ODI series 3-1 while Rahul is busy strengthening Karnataka in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017-18.

“I’ve always looked at the positive side. When you are playing sport you know you will have more bad days than good days. You need to take things in your stride and try to learn something new and improve every day,” Rahul told Cricbuzz. “I would have liked to spend more time in the middle. I did get a decent hit in the second match. I will play another match on Sunday and then train for a couple of days before I leave,” he added.

Rahul also mentioned that he did not bat poorly in South Africa but failed to convert his starts.

“You learn as you play. Ups and downs are part of your career. This is not exactly a down. I am playing well but not able to convert. I am not able to spend more time in the middle. I will find the answer soon. Maybe it takes just one good innings to get the conversion rate better. It doesn’t have to be a 150 but even a 50 can help me. I’ve been working hard on my fitness and game.”

Rahul revealed about his first outing in South Africa, “South Africa was a whole new challenge. We expected pace and bounce. I didn’t think there would be so much seam movement. The seam movement with pace and bounce was new. It’s a deadly combination and you don’t want to be an opener when all these things are happening. But it was a good learning experience for me. I know what I need to tweak in my game and where I stand when it comes to my skill.”

Talking about his plans for the T20Is, Rahul said, “I was there for a month and I didn’t do too much in the Test series, so I’m looking forward to going there and getting some runs.”