The KL Rahul comeback: Are India reaping rewards of Rohit Sharma and Abhishek Nayar's work?

India Today

a day ago

India batter KL Rahul has been enjoying some sensational form since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. A gritty outing in Australia and then two fantastic performances in the Champions Trophy 2025 and Indian Premier League, KL Rahul is enjoying one of the best patches of his career.In the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the Test series against England, Rahul has started strongly as well, hitting a century in the second innings of the opening Test match. Former India batting coach Abhishek Nayar has revealed that Rahul's revival of form was one of the main projects he undertook during his tenure with the Indian team.advertisement"When I first picked up that role, I remember I had a conversation with Rohit, and he said that one of the things he was really keen on me doing was working with KL and bringing out a more aggressive outlook to how KL played the game, and bringing the best out of him because he believed strongly that KL would play a major role in the Champions Trophy, World Cup and everything going forward including the BGT [Border-Gavaskar Trophy] and the Tests in England," Abhishek Nayar told ESPNcricinfo in an interview.KL Rahul's Comeback in 2024
The current KL Rahul is vastly different from the KL Rahul of 2023, who was heavily criticised for his outing in the ODI World Cup 2023 final. In that match, Rahul got stuck between gears and failed under the pressure of the big occasion against Pat Cummins' Australia team.advertisementSubsequently, Rahul was dropped from the T20 World Cup team in 2024 and was also let go by his Indian Premier League franchise, Lucknow Super Giants.Nayar revealed that drastic changes needed to be made in KL Rahul's technique and mentality, and the duo got to work during India's ill-fated Test series against New Zealand."Australia was going to be critical for him because it was almost like what if you didn't get runs there, then where is his career going? Because he was out of the T20 [squad]. Then this could also very well have been his last series. I told him, listen, we've got 15 days to prepare before we go to Australia. And take those 10 days there, we have got almost a month to prepare. What do you want to do? How do you want to approach this? What is your mindset?" Nayar said.The former cricketer revealed that he fixed Rahul's skills first and then got working on the mental side of the game. KL Rahul's improved batting reflected in the Champions Trophy, where the batter finished matches with sixes, something that was not seen in his batting before."He spoke about what he's been doing and what worked for him in the past. And then I had a certain thought process, which was very different from his. Over hours and hours of conversation and trying to make him understand where I came from, eventually I got him to a place where he sort of trusted me to do certain things with him in regards to how he practises, in regards to trusting certain changes in his tactics, in regards to his stance, where he stands in the crease, what guard he takes," Nayar revealed.ESPNcricinfo reported that Abhishek Nayar continues to work with KL Rahul in a personal capacity despite being sacked from the Indian team. Rahul would hope to continue his form and play some impactful innings in England.- EndsTune InMust Watch