On his comeback to the Indian team after a long injury lay-off, KL Rahul put on a show with the willow against arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup in Colombo on Monday (September 11).

The wicketkeeper-batter was included in the XI after Shreyas Iyer suffered a back spasm to be ruled out of the marquee fixture.

Batting at No. 4, Rahul slammed 111* off 106 balls and also donned the keeping gloves to dismiss the concerns around his match fitness.

A day after thrashing Pakistan by 228 runs, the Men in Blue took on Sri Lanka and Rahul once again stepped up to the plate. The right-hander played a crucial knock of 39 on a turning track and did a brilliant job behind the stumps in the second half.

Having gained confidence, the 29-year-old is now looking to build on his performance.

“It has been some time since I played some cricket, and so far, it has been good,” said Rahul while addressing a press conference on Tuesday (September 12) after India’s 41-run win over Sri Lanka.

“I trusted my preparation for the last three or four months and was confident I could do the job. I was nervy initially, but once I faced a few balls, it was back to normal.”

Reflecting on his knock against Sri Lanka, Rahul stated: “After the first few balls, I tried to figure out the shots I could play and did not want to go into a shell. I wanted to defend and diffuse the pressure at the same time. I still wanted to play my shots, but according to the nature of the pitch.”

Rahul also revealed that he was working on his keeping during the recovery period in NCA.

“Before the injury, I was wicket-keeping. It has been quite a while that I have been keeping. Since Rishabh Pant got concussed in 2019, I have donned the gloves. So, it is not something new. The team management had also told me that my role would be to keep and play in the middle order.”

“When I was in NCA during recovery, I got a bit of time and I worked on my wicketkeeping,” he remarked.

Rahul also praised wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who returned with the figures of 4 for 43 against Sri Lanka.

“I enjoyed watching Kuldeep bowl. Sometimes, even I can’t pick him up under lights. He has developed a few new tricks in the last year, giving him results. We talk between overs and set strategy, and then it is up to Kuldeep and his skill,” he said.

(The Indian Express Inputs)