MS Dhoni is the best captain the world has ever seen: KL Rahul

The new sensation of Indian batting line-up, KL Rahul had a great series against West Indies recently. He ended the Test series as the third leading run-getter of the series behind Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, where Rahul had played one match less than the duo.

He continued his run in the T20I series as well recording his first century in the shortest format of the game. Speaking about the limited-overs skipper MS Dhoni and Test skipper Virat Kohli, he said Dhoni is the best captain the world has ever seen and Virat is more energetic and passionate about his job.

“With MS having so much experience behind him he understands what is best for the team. He is obviously the best captain that India or the world has ever seen there is no doubt about that. When he is in the dressing room there is a bit of calm, you know that the captain is doing most of the thinking, he will give you your roles & responsibilities and you just need to go and play them out,” he said.

“When it comes to Virat he is more energetic & has more passion. He wants the boys to be in the face of the players (opposition), be aggressive on the field and express themselves. We enjoy playing with both of them as leaders and both of them set great examples for rest of the boys in the team. They are great leaders and the team is in safe hands with both of them as leaders,” he concluded.

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“I think the media loves to brand players as soon as they get one or two good knocks. I think it is still early to be calling me a specialist in any of the formats. I am very new in international cricket & currently enjoying myself” says Rahul, who had just finished a training session at the NCA.

The 24-year old is confident that India will be ranked no.1 in Test cricket with quite a lot Test matches being played in India over the next 6 months. “There is no doubt in our heads that we are going to be no.1 very soon, it is just about how long we can stay in that position. With 13 or more Test matches coming our way in the next six months and everything being at home we are very confident that we will be the number one team for a very long time.”

He is also considering the next 6-8 months as an opportunity for the team to develop as a strong team. “The next 6-8 months give us a great challenge & opportunity to develop as a good strong young team and for individuals to go out there and challenge themselves, get more runs and do the job for the team,” a confident Rahul said.

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Carribean – a favourite touring destination?:

Rahul had a great run in the Test series, as he started off with a century in the first innings he played at Carribean. When asked whether it is one of his favourite touring destinations?, he said, “I guess (laughs). Look we went there to do a job which was to win the Test series firstly. We went in with a very clear mind and a very fearless attitude. We wanted to go out there and play some aggressive cricket.”

Terms like ‘the new Wall’ or ‘the new Virat’ were used by media, but however he never had the easiest of paths to cement his place in the squad. He had to wait for long for his chances, but when it came, he grabbed it with both hands. “When I got a chance in Jamaica I knew I had to make the most of it. It was unfortunate that (Murali) Vijay got hit on the hand & had to miss the Test but I wanted to grab the opportunity with both hands. I was batting well and I got a couple of the fifties in the practice games and I was hitting the ball well in the nets,” he said.

Plan was to keep it simple:

“I just wanted to go out there and play my game and keep things simple and do the job for my team. We knew if we win that Test we would be sitting comfortably in the series. It was very important for me to go out there and score some runs so we could post a big target and bowl them out again to win the Test match. So I was thinking on those lines more than thinking about my personal score. I think that made it comfortable for me to go out there and post a big score. I tried to do whatever I could and when the chance came I obviously made the most of it”, he explained.

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He said that the preparations ahead of the series were simple and all the 4 wickets in the series different. “Not much, the preparations were very simple, man”, he said. “I was watching a few games of the CPL and we thought the wickets will be similar, slow and with a bit of turn. So I tried to prepare myself for wickets which would be similar to those that we get in India. We got a week of training here in India to prepare so I could talk to Anil Kumble about what the pitches in the West Indies would be like but none of us knew what to expect.”

“We had to prepare ourselves for whatever that would come our way. But all 4 wickets in the series were very different from what we were expecting, there was bounce and the wickets had something in them. So it was a good challenge” he added.

Dhoni was the best man for the situation:

India lost the first of the two T20Is by one run chasing a record target of 245 posted by West Indies. KL recorded a century in the match and became the third Indian batsman to score a century in all three formats of the game.

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However, India fell one run short of the target as Dhoni failed to finish it off. “It was really good batting with MS, he was the best man for the situation. When he came in I was set too and was batting on fifty. He just walked in and started hitting boundaries and sixes from ball one which was good to see and we knew we had to score at over 13 runs an over. It was just one of those days, a one-off you know, as people have said before that 9 out of 10 times MS Dhoni would have finished that game off. He is the best finisher in the game”, concluded Rahul.