KL Rahul eyes another fresh start to his topsy-turvy career

The Karnataka batter knows he is at a stage where he is just happy to have a place in the 11 irrespective of where he is asked to bat.

Adelaide: The long mane has replaced the close crop that KL Rahul sported on his first trip to Australia. A carefully maintained stubble sits suitably on the once clean-shaven face and he has inked more tattoos since then than the number of Tests he has played in Down Under.

KL Rahul, who completes 10 years in international cricket in about three weeks' time having made his debut in the Boxing Day Test in December 2014, is on his fourth visit to Australia for a Test series and, incredibly, he has appeared in just six Tests! 

His debut Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was a blur, getting out cheaply in both innings to uncharacteristically ungainly shots while batting at Nos. 6 and 3.

In his second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, he returned to his favoured position at the top of the order and chalked up a fluent hundred to prove that he didn't just share the name of his more illustrious state-mate, Rahul Dravid, but the quality of his batsmanship as well.

Rahul, it was apparent then, was the next big export to Indian cricket from Karnataka after Dravid. The right-hander still remains one -- having clocked more than 50 Tests and only the seventh and the latest to do so from Karnataka -- but it's a bitter truth that he hasn't achieved his own level of expectations let alone others'.

A tally of 3084 runs at an average of 34.26 in 54 Tests is modest by any standard, and staggeringly low knowing the potential he possesses. 

"Everyone wishes for it, but I'll have to get as many runs as the people that have their names on the stands," says Rahul when asked if he wants to see a stand named after him at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, his home venue, after the KSCA decided to act on the long-held demand to honour state cricket's stalwarts by naming the stands after them.

Rahul already has more international runs than some of the cricketers there, he has led India in Tests, scored centuries in the most difficult of conditions but the message wasn't lost on him. He has to make the most of this opportunity as he isn't going to get a whole lot of them going forward.

"Yeah, I mean, 10 years ago, it was my first Test series," Rahul recalled his debut in 2014. "I watched the India-Australia series growing up on TV, waking up at 5 in the morning, watching the games with my father. So it was a bit surreal to be here at that moment.

"There was a lot more going on in my head at that time (in 2014). And I honestly feel like I wasn't really as sure as I am today. It wasn't back then, 10 years ago, about batting and what I needed to do, about how to get runs, how to handle the pressure, how to keep away the noises and all of that."So yeah, I learned a lot in these 10 years and am really grateful for everything that I've had to go through, the ups and downs, the good and the bad, everything. Yeah, so I'm looking forward to the next 10 years and hopefully, Australia is where it started for me 10 years ago. Hopefully, this is a start for something great in the next half of my career."

His second-innings half-century in Perth once again underlined his talent and triggered hopes of another spring, but then there have been many false dawns that one would care to remember. As the Bengalurean eyes another fresh start to his topsy-turvy career, the expectations, therefore, have to be tempered with trepidation whether he opens the innings or not. Though the 32-year-old knows where he is going to bat in the second Test, The information, he said on Wednesday, isn't for public consumption at least till Thursday when Rohit addresses the media.

Given the rollercoaster ride he has had in the decade, Rahul admits, 10 years seem longer than they are."Feels like 25 (years), honestly," he is quick to answer. "But yeah, with the amount of injuries I've had, time away from the sport, yeah, feels long. But yeah, I've enjoyed every bit of it."

Rahul knows he is at a stage where he is just happy to have a place in the 11 irrespective of where he is asked to bat.

"Anything," he tells you when asked about his preferred position. "I've said this before. I just want to be in the playing XI. Pick me wherever. I just want to go there, bat and play for the team."

While he wouldn't admit openly, it's not easy being shunted up and down the order. But Rahul says he has learned to live with that reality. That he got to know well in time he was going to open the innings in the first Test helped him mentally tune-in for the task. 

"I don't know honestly," he says when queried about the adjustments he has to make for different batting positions. "I don't have an answer to that. I just go there and see what I need to do in that given scenario. Whenever I walk in, what is it that the team requires, what is it that I need to do to get runs from there on. I try and keep my game as simple as I can. Luckily for me, I batted in different positions. Early on, when I was asked to bat in different places, it was a bit of a challenge mentally. Not so much the technique, but at least mentally, how to play those first 20-25 balls, what shots I can play, how early can I attack, how much do I need to be cautious.

"Those were the things that were a bit tricky early on. But now that I've played in ODIs and in Test cricket all over the place, it's given me a little bit of an idea as to how I need to manage my innings and how I need to start. I feel like it's just the start that's important, whether I'm batting top of the order or in the middle order. It's just the start, the first 30-40 balls. If I can manage that, then everything else starts to seem like it's regular batting."