Haren
KL Rahul in a recent interaction said that he wants to use the next IPL as a vehicle to stage a comeback to the Indian T20I side.
“My aim is to obviously get back into the T20 team. I’ve always wanted to be an all-format player, and that desire and drive haven’t changed over the years. I want to still play for India in all three formats and have done that for many years,” Rahul told Star Sports.
“I’ve been out of the T20 team for a while, and I know where I stand as a player and what I need to do to get back. So, I look forward to this IPL season to give me that platform to enjoy my cricket and play the way I want to,” he added.
Rahul was not retained by the Lucknow Super Giants and will go into the auction pool in the IPL Mega Auction set to take place on November 24-25.
The LSG franchise finished 3rd in the 2022 and 2023 seasons under Rahul. But Lucknow could not make its way into the play-offs last season which might have added to the skipper’s non retention.
“I felt like I wanted to start fresh, I wanted to explore my options and I wanted to go and play where I could find some freedom and where the team atmosphere will be somewhat lighter, much more balanced,” Rahul said in the same interaction.
Meanwhile, Rahul, who is in line to open India’s innings as an opener if skipper Rohit Sharma misses out of the 1st Test in the upcoming Australia series, suffered an injury scare during a match simulation session at the WACA in Perth on Friday morning.
The 32-year-old Rahul opened the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal as India made their potential plans to replace Rohit in the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at the Perth Stadium starting in a week.
According to reporters at the venue, Rahul was hit on his right below off a bumpy short delivery from seamer Prasidh Krishna. Though he tried to resume his batting after some help from the physio, Rahul decided to walk off the field.
