KL Rahul: ‘Harshit asked me to keep reminding him to not hit a six every ball’

Rahul recalled why the chase proved comedic batting alongside Rana. (PTI Photo)

A crucial all-round contribution including in a chase steered by senior batsman KL Rahul, saw Harshit Rana finally catch a break as India defeated the Black Caps by 4 wickets.

But when the pursuit of 301 got a tad tricky with 50 odd runs still to go and Harshit Rana walked in at the fall of 5th wicket, an entertaining phase ensued.KL Rahul was entrusted the job of tempering Harshit Rana’s six hitting instinct — by Harshit Rana himself.

Rahul recalled while speaking to JioHotstar why the chase proved comedic batting alongside the maverick all-rounder. “Batting with Harshit Rana in the final overs was fun. I had to calm him down. He kept asking me to remind him not to try and hit a six every ball, because that was his mindset. I had to settle him. He is new to ODIs and hasn’t played many games,” Rahul said on JioHotstar.

Rahul also offered insights into how the KKR big bloke was viewed by the dressing room, with the management seeing potential in his all rounded game. “We have all seen his potential. He batted well in Australia and has played crucial knocks for the team. The dressing room sees his potential and wants him to develop into a great cricketer, the kind of player every team wants to have in their squad,” Rahul added.

Rahul added that the typically boisterous northerner sometimes suffered from over-confidence but that was infinitely better than being under-confident. “He is a tall, bowls at 145 kph with good variations, and can contribute with the bat. He has a good attitude. Sometimes he is a little overconfident, but I’d rather have that than no confidence at all,” Rahul said.

Rana, who former KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane recalled, literally kept out the noise by wearing airpods when bowling and training at the IPL nets, had told him he ensured he read all the critical stuff written on him, cause that helped motivate him to improve.

But turning out for Team India Rana had taken his time to hit the groove after which he gained confidence and went about calming the waters. “Once he hit a few boundaries, I told him we weren’t chasing much. We aimed for one boundary an over, took one calculated risk, and then tried to get me back on strike,” Rahul recalled of rationing his aggression.