'It gives time to plan your innings' - KL Rahul finds his new mojo in middle-order after supreme strokeplay on Day 2 in Hyderabad Test

India gained command over England on Day 2 in the first Test of the series, which is being played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, and India's star batter KL Rahul had an indispensable role to play in making that happen. Playing against a spin-heavy attack of the opposition, Rahul scored 86 runs in the first innings, as the home team advanced by 175 runs at Stumps with three wickets still intact.

After Yashasvi Jaiswal (80) was dismissed in the very first over, the middle-order batter came in to play at 4 in Virat Kohli's void. He instantly received a lifeline when Ben Foakes dropped his catch on the very first ball he faced. But after that, the Mangalore-born ensured to not put a foot wrong in his knock, filled with composure and attacking strokeplay. At the end of the day's play, Rahul revealed the essence of success in a new batting position.

“Enjoying batting in the middle-order. I did enjoy batting in the top-order for a long time, but here you get some time to put your feet up, watch as to how the ball is doing, what the bowlers are doing, and it gives time to plan your innings,” Rahul was quoted as saying by News18 Cricket Next.

The 32-year-old came into the game after his majestic ton at the Centurion in the Boxing Day Test on the recent South Africa tour. There, Rahul was the only centurion for the visiting team, and was one of the very few who displayed promise with the bat. Drawing comparisons, he revealed how different were the conditions in the rainbow nation as compared to playing in subcontinent conditions against spin.

“The 100 in SA has given me some confidence, also having played 6–7 months of cricket since my injury.” Adding further about his sublime knock, Rahul said, “The aim was to stay positive when I went out to bat. Very different to that of South Africa (on the pitch) – a bit of turn, it became slower and slower as the ball went old. Was a challenge, I had to wait for my opportunity to play shots.”

Umpires flick the bails off as Jadeja eyes a ton tomorrow

Rahul's stay at the crease was coated with eight four and a couple of maximums, playing spin to its utmost merit. In an attempt to keep the scoreboard ticking, Rahul opted for a pulling debutant Tom Hartley over deep mid-wicket, but found Rehan Ahmed taking a sharp catch to end his dominant knock. Apart from him, all of India's batters except Ravichandran Ashwin (1 off 10 balls) managed to score in double digits.

Meanwhile, at Stumps, Ravindra Jadeja (81*) and Axar Patel (35*) are still at the crease. The southpaw duo will intend to score runs as quick as possible. The senior of the two will also want to convert his knock into a three-figure mark, but the pitch may assist the spinners right from the very beginning on the third day, and thus, Jadeja will have to keep his eyes open and footwork intact.

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