India vs England: KL Rahul relieved to break century drought

Inform Indian batsman KL Rahul has heaved a sigh of relief after finally breaking his chain of halfcenturies with a sublime hundred against England in the opening T20 International of the threematch series He scored 101 not out off 54 balls to help India beat England by eight wickets giving the visitors a 10 lead in the threematch seriesUntil Tuesday Rahul had gone 564 runs without breaching the threefigure mark His last hundred also came against England in the fifth Test at Chennai on December 16 2016 wherein he scored 199 runs Since then he had scored 10 Test halfcenturies one ODI halfcentury and three T20I halfcenturies as well as two halfcenturies for Karnataka in the 201718 Ranji season and six halfcenturies for Kings XI Punjab in the 2018 IPL He finally broke the jinx at ManchesterTrust me I know it had been 564 days Quite honestly I didnt know what to make of it whether I was in form or out of form I kept getting the fifties and was getting out I was batting well but somehow I couldnt get to the threefigure mark so it was quite frustrating Being in and out of the team injuries and sickness it all was playing on my mind and kept frustrating me even moreiquest said Rahul ahead of the second T20 here tomorrowI realized somewhere down the line that it is still better than getting out on singlefigure mark and stopped worrying about the three figures I wanted it really bad and am very happy that it came here in England in the first game of the series and hopefully I can carry that confidence forward and use the form and make it bigRahul came out to bat at number three ahead of skipper Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina who had been the regular at this spot in T20Is this year since the tour of South Africa He underlined the importance of batting up high being a toporder batsman himself but also said that the team management had made it clear that all players iquest whether batsmen or bowlers iquest had to be prepared to be flexible keeping the 2019 ODI World Cup in mindThats where I would love to bat and I have always batted at the top of the order Numbers one and two are what I am most comfortable in Shikhar Dhawan got out early and it still felt like I was opening the batting It gives me a chance to get my in and even use the powerplay Whatever chances I get I should make the most of it and I am very happy that I got to bat up the order said RahulBut It has been made clear that there will be few changes in the team and as a batting unit we need to flexible in our heads to be able to perform any role or responsibility that has been given to us We are all working towards it We might want to promote MS Dhoni or Hardik Pandya if we get a good start to go and get us a few sixes or get the runrate up So we will be flexible keeping in mind the World Cup he addedTalking further about the improvements in his batting that have seen him become one of the most dependable batsmen in the Indian lineup Rahul said Before this I didnt play too many international runs due to whatever reasons injuries or I have been in the team and not played in the XIWhen you sit out then you realize that when you get the opportunity how important it is to use that opportunity not only as a player individually but also for the team When you get a chance to play if you help them win a game then the team will start believing that the player can also do this for the team So building that confidence for yourself and the team is very importantRahul has carried his IPL form into the UK tour and he is very pleased about it I am very happy that my performance in the last 34 months and have kept improving with each game It started in the IPL where I got to bat at the top of the order I hadnt played a lot of international games before that so there was a lot of passion and I wanted to be out there in the middle and make the best use of the opportunitiesIts just that I dont think Ive changed much technically and obviously being away from the game and not playing much gives me time to train and gives me time to work a lot on my fitness Ive been working really hard on my fitness Thats about it India now have the chance to wrap up the T20I series early on this tour Another win in Cardiff will give them an unassailable 20 lead All talk in the buildup to this game has been about how England plan to contend with Kuldeep Yadav who picked 524 and sensationally turned the game on its headI dont think it is just England A good wrist spinner is a good wrist spinner against any opposition And with the kind of skill and quality that Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal have its always going to be hard for a team that doesnt play spin a lot What Kuldeep did was special as getting a fivefor in a T20 game isnt easy You can be bowling well but most times he could get away for 2 or 3 wickets and gone for 30 runs But he kept at it The way Chahal and Kuldeep are bowling theyre going to be dangerous throughout the series said RahulAlso Read India Vs England India 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