New Delhi [India], November 13 : India batter KL Rahul revealed that he "tried really hard" to prove himself as a power hitter early in his career but the likes of Rahul Dravid and Kane Williamson showed him that staying true to his technique would help him succeed in the white-ball format.
Rahul is on a quest to regain his lost form, a cause for concern in the build-up to the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
Before the World Test Championship final deciding series, Rahul, known for his range of strokes, reminisced about his early days when he used to toil hard to smash sixes to prove himself as a big hitter.
"I think I grew as an individual and as a player. As a youngster, I tried really hard to be someone I wasn't, trying to hit big sixes to prove I could. It just wasn't coming naturally. What changed for me was watching Rahul Dravid in one of the IPL seasons around 2011 or 2012. He stayed true to his technique, and he was one of the best batsmen," Rahul said on Star Sports.
"Seeing him do well in one-day and T20 cricket without changing his game changed something in me. I also spent time with Kane Williamson at SRH. He didn't get many chances, but he'd still go back and play amazing white-ball innings for New Zealand. Watching Dravid and Williamson, I realized I didn't need to try so hard. I had certain gifts I could use in T20 cricket to find success," he added.
Rahul noted that once he embraced that mindset, things started to fall in the right place. The performances started to come from his bat and he simultaneously grew in confidence.
"Once I embraced that mindset, things clicked for me. In the 2016 IPL, I had Virat and AB's guidance--the best T20 players around. Just talking to them at training about my game made a difference. Once the performances started coming, the confidence followed," he remarked.
Rahul showed glimpses of returning to his purple patch after hammering 68 in the rain-curtailed Kanpur Test against Bangladesh.
The New Zealand series presented a perfect opportunity for him to impose his swagger and grow more in confidence. But 12 runs across both innings in the opening Test led to him being sidelined from the playing XI for the remaining two games.
He went on to feature for India A in the second unofficial Test against Australia A but got dismissed most bizarrely during the second innings. Rahul could only manage to muster up 14 runs across both innings as India A succumbed to a 6-wicket defeat.