Working towards how I can improve as an opener, have more impact: KL Rahul

As team India gears up for the clash against Australia in the first T20I on Tuesday, vice-captain KL Rahul said he is working hard to improve himself as an opening batter and “give more impact to the team.”
India will start off their home series against Australia on September 20. The next T20I match will take place in Nagpur on September 23, followed by the third and final T20I match in Hyderabad on September 25. “I am feeling good obviously and it’s been a few games since I came back after the injury. Playing in the Asia Cup and going to Zimbabwe, playing a couple of innings was really important and crucial for me. And I am looking forward to the challenge against Australia. They will be fun to play in the home,” Rahul said in a pre-match press conference. KL Rahul will need to score well in all three matches with a good strike rate as he has been blowing hot and cold since his return from injury, which has put his opening slot at risk.
Talking about his form and strike rate slump, Rahul said “no one is perfect” and in the last few months, he got clarity on what people and the team expects from players.
“Look no one is perfect. No one in that dressing room is perfect. Everyone is working towards something. Everyone has a certain role to do. Obviously, the strike rates are taken on an overall base. You will never see when a batter played a certain strike rate. It is something that I am working at. The roles that I have been defined …… in the last 10 or 12 months I have been very clear on what everyone expects from the player, and everyone is working towards it,” he said.
“There can be criticism for many things. But the most important thing for a player is that what his captain, coach and teammates think of him in the dressing room. Only we know what role is expected of each player. Everyone is trying to give their best, but not everyone can succeed in each game. It is the kind of environment we have created where players are not scared to commit mistakes or fail… I am working towards how I can improve as an opening batter and give more impact to the team,” he added. Playing with the two wicket-keeper batters- Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik – is a tough choice for the team India. He said it depends on the combination that the team decides to go with. “Look it really depends on what kind of combinations are we playing. It totally depends on the surface that we are going to play at and the teams we are playing against. These decisions are not easy to make,” he said.