Cricket World Cup:<\/b> KL Rahul said his unbeaten 129 in the third ODI against the West Indies was as much about gaining valuable time in the middle as it was about the runs, with India using the bilateral series to sharpen their plans for the ICC Men\u2019s Cricket World Cup 2027.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Speaking after India\u2019s 2-1 series win, Rahul said the long innings was important as he continues to work on the demands of batting in the middle order ahead of next year\u2019s global tournament.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Rahul\u2019s century came in a match India eventually lost as the West Indies chased down 352, denying the visitors a series clean sweep. Despite that disappointment, the wicketkeeper-batter saw value in spending an extended period at the crease, particularly after limited opportunities to construct a long ODI innings from the middle order earlier this year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cHappy to have scored 129 runs but disappointed that we couldn\u2019t clean sweep the series. Had we done that, then the happiness level would have been at the peak. Nonetheless, I wanted to spend more time with the bat out there in the middle and the last time I really got to bat for a long duration in ODI cricket, in the middle-order was in early January this year against New Zealand, and since then I haven\u2019t really got a lot of time to play a long innings. <\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAnd next year is a big one, with the World Cup starting in October, so it\u2019s important for me to get valuable batting time because off the field I\u2019m trying a few things and I want to test that in the game. And only then will you know whether the work that you\u2019re putting behind the scenes is working or not, or what I need to do differently. So yeah, it was important for me to get some batting time, so I\u2019m happy about that,\u201d Rahul told JioStar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The innings also offered Rahul an opportunity to work on one of the more demanding aspects of his current role. Having spent much of his career at the top of the order, the batter has had to adapt to conditions that can become increasingly difficult for middle-order players as an ODI innings progresses. He pointed specifically to the behaviour of the older ball and the difficulties it can create for batters attempting to attack in the final overs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very different, but I\u2019ve been doing this role for the last 6-7 years. In the last year and a half, since the ball change rule has happened, it\u2019s been very different. It\u2019s not been easy to get 80-90 in the last 10 overs. The ball\u2019s been getting reverse swing, and even in this game, once the ball got old and soft, and started to reverse swing, as a batter you don\u2019t feel confident enough to take on the long-on and deep mid-wicket fielder if it\u2019s a big boundary on that side. <\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always batted top of the order, and I like the hard ball coming onto me, I can use the pace. So that\u2019s something I\u2019ve been working on, trying to play with softer, older balls and being able to hit sixes with that. So, that\u2019s something I\u2019ve worked on. I constantly try to get better within my own game, understand my role, understand what a number five and number six batter has to do to consistently put up performances for the team,\u201d he added. <\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 2027 World Cup remains more than a year away, but Rahul said the current series are already providing the match situations needed to test India\u2019s plans and personnel.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAll these series on the road to the World Cup are a good opportunity to get some game time in the middle. We don\u2019t want to go too far away from the plan but also experiment a little bit as a batting unit. The goal so far has been about can we score 330-340 while batting first, but we\u2019re seeing that 340s and 350s get chased down very easily in one-day cricket. So how can batters, once set, keep pressing on and get 370s and 380s, or push for 400 on a given day. <\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 2027 World Cup remains more than a year away, but Rahul said the current series are already providing the match situations needed to test India\u2019s plans and personnel.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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