Team selection not in our control: KL Rahul

After a horror Test debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), India's opening batsman, KL Rahul, has found international cricket a much easier place to be in. He immediately followed the MCG disaster with his maiden Test ton at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), followed it up with another hundred during India's tour of Sri Lanka and then became the first Indian batsman to score a hundred on One-Day International (ODI) debut against Zimbabwe in June, 2016.


Part of the 17-man Indian team for the four-Test series against West Indies, Rahul has been the shining light of India's batting during the warm-up matches against West Indies Board President's XI. In the first warm-up fixture in St. Kitts, he made a measured 50 and then continued his good form in the second at the same venue, making an attractive 64. The Karnataka batsman hasn't been dismissed on the tour as yet, although this doesn't guarantee him a place in the starting line-up, when the first Test begins at Sir Viv Richards Stadium, Antigua, on Thursday (July 21).
"Look that (team selection) is not in our control. As players, we look to prepare well and whenever an opportunity comes, you need to be prepared to go out there and do well personally and also for your team and play to the roles and responsibilities given. There is still a week to go before the Tests. In the next couple days, we will know who is playing and who is not, we will start preparing accordingly. But yeah, not really worried about it. When it comes, it comes and whatever has to happen will happen," Rahul said to bcci.tv, after the end of the second day's play against the West Indies Board President's XI, on Friday (July 15).
Having spent quite a lot of time in the middle, the back-up Indian batsman reckons that his preparations for the Test series has been pretty useful. "The purpose of coming here was to get used to the wickets and conditions and I am really happy with the way I've batted. It is hot and humid and it is not easy to get runs out there. I tried to use these two innings and the time before the Tests to prepare for the Test series," he said.
Rahul has been involved in a host of matches in the shorter format of the games in recent times and believes that the major challenge for a modern cricketer is to find a stable base between different formats of the game. "I know the format changes and you get a lot more time here, but we do this all the time. As professional cricketers we need to adapt quickly," he reasoned.
The Indian bowlers did a good job in restricting their opponents to just 180 in the second warm-up fixture and Rahul feels that they are ready for the forthcoming Tests. "We have three quality spinners and they have been in good form in the Test format and we will be happy if we get turning tracks. We have the firepower in the pace department as well. All of them have been doing well and increased their fitness levels and pace, so it is good to see them bending their back on wickets like these. Getting the ball to carry are good signs," he concluded.