Batting on challenging pitch a good experience, says Rahul

The crowd got its money’s worth on the last day of the India v Sri Lanka Test at Eden Gardens on Monday (November 20) as Virat Kohli hit his 50th international century before the bowlers took India to the brink of victory, only to be denied by fading light.

KL Rahul, who scored 79 in the second innings after being dismissed on the first ball of the first, felt that if India had five or six overs more, the match could have been its.

“On a wicket like that, it’d have been great if we got five days of cricket,” he said. “We enjoyed playing on a wicket that was challenging and these are the kind of matches you look forward to. Maybe if we had five or six more overs, we could’ve made a match out of it. But it’s a good experience for all of us. I don’t think personally I’ve played a game like this, which is shortened and rain-curtailed but goes down to the wire.”

Coming into the game, India won its previous eight Test series. Rahul felt that the way the team had evolved in the last couple of years was evident in how it clawed its way back after conceding a 122-run lead. “We were nothing for three days and to come back into the game and make a game out of this was commendable and speaks volumes of the team and how well we’ve evolved as a young team in the last couple of years,” he said. “Yes, we’d have loved to win this game, but nonetheless we put in everything. The bowlers did their job, the batsmen played well. It would’ve been nice to win but we have two more Tests, we’ll try to win those.”

He believed things might have panned out differently had India’s bowlers made first use of the green top in overcast conditions. “All the days … there’s been something for the fast bowlers,” he said. “Towards the end of yesterday and today, the cracks opened up a little bit more. That’s why there was a lot more seam movement – the first couple of days there was a lot of swing, because of the conditions and because of the dampness in the wicket.

“I think (Suranga) Lakmal bowled really well this innings because there was a lot of help for the fast bowlers, and yeah, our bowlers bowled some beauties in the first innings, we beat the bat a lot. They were lucky in the first innings. None of the edges carried, or none of the edges went to hand. It would have been a completely different situation if they had batted first, but that’s how it goes. We enjoyed the challenge batting first and it was a good experience for us.”

Rahul has nine scores of 50-plus in Test cricket this year without touching the three-figure mark even once. He felt disappointed, not because he missed out on personal glory, but because it could’ve consolidated India’s position. “I would have wanted to convert at least half of them into hundreds, and sitting and looking back at those innings, I feel like three or four innings I could have easily converted those (into) hundreds, and my numbers would have been a lot different. When the stats come up when I go to bat, it would have shown eight or nine international hundreds.

“I’ve never played for numbers, firstly. But the conversion is something that is disappointing because the team looks forward to me as an opening batsman going and getting bigger runs. With how I bat, and if I can stay there longer we can get the runs much faster, and that gives the bowlers lot more time and a lot more cushion of runs in a Test match. So that is disappointing, but I’m not really worried. I’m sure it will come when it has to.”

He felt that the wicket in Kolkata provided good preparation for India’s upcoming overseas tours and as an opening batsman, he was happy to put on a 166-run stand with Shikhar Dhawan in the second innings. “We’re going to travel abroad and play a lot of cricket overseas, and we are going to find wickets like this … As an opening batsman, an innings like this gives a lot of confidence, and the kind of partnership that me and Shikhar put up was very, very satisfying because if, as opening batsmen, we can negate this seam movement with the new ball then it becomes a lot easier for the batsmen coming down the order.

“We enjoyed batting on this wicket. First innings, we got good balls, and on a wicket like that the bowler also is coming to get wickets and you’re bound to get a good ball. But the mindset we came out with in the second innings was very positive. We wanted to get runs, we wanted to be aggressive, put the bowlers under the pump. We didn’t want to let them settle down, and that’s what we did.”