Virat Kohli and KL Rahul highlight minute details of the remarkable partnership against Australia

India had a fine outing against Australia in the season opener that saw two of their best batters, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, rock the show with an incredible display. Tottering at 2/3, Kohli and Rahul knitted together a stand of 165 runs for the fourth wicket. Virat scored a sensational 85 while Rahul stayed unbeaten for an excellent 97.

Post their heroics, both Virat and KL Rahul came together for a candid interview on BCCI TV. The chat highlighted those small details which would have otherwise got lost in time. From how they managed time to braving almost insurmountable fatigue, both Rahul and Virat bared themselves out.

Talking about the exact strategy in how to channelise their energy, Rahul said, “The only chat after 50-70 runs of partnership was to conserve the energy, to not take the twos, but once the ball hits the gap the instincts take over and you end up running. It was a tough day. Glad that we could get our journey in the World Cup with a win.”

Highlighting his preparation ahead of coming out to bat, Rahul added, “You do have a couple of quick wickets sometimes, if the ball is doing something but not like that, it still takes 4-5 overs and not 1.5 overs. I just came and sat. I had a shower and just sat and then Ishan (Kishan) got out. I had to rush back to get taped, started wearing my pads, and then Rohit (Sharma) got out. Then I thought I will get at least two overs because Shreyas (Iyer) will bat a little bit, but he got out in the first or the second ball, I don’t even know because I started rushing out.”

Virat also opened up on what felt like the highlight of the partnership for himself, underlining, “One thing for me that was the highlight of the partnership, obviously because of the low total, was how content we were to just knock the ball around. Not necessarily looking at the number of balls we have faced, and the runs we have gotten, and just fighting through the physical challenges of what we have experienced through the afternoon and then coming into the evening.”

He concluded by talking about how the fatigue starts tiring you out, adding, “Then the pressure makes you feel more tense and you start feeling more fatigued than you are. Just knocking the ball around and bringing the total down 10-15 runs at a time was something that really helped our partnership.”