Rohit Sharma Entrusted This Man To Bring 'Aggressive Outlook' In KL Rahul

NDTV

3 hours ago

Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar revealed that ODI captain Rohit Sharma wanted him to work with KL Rahul and bring out a more "aggressive" outlook as well as the best out of him. Rahul has flummoxed everyone with his technical prowess and impressive artillery. The most recent reminder that Rahul delivered was in the second innings of the opening Test against England at Headingley. Rahul dazzled on the crease with a composed 137 from 247 deliveries, a knock that was a sight for sore eyes. Nayar, who was named in head coach Gautam Gambhir 's initial regime, reminisced about the time when former Test captain Rohit asked him to work with Rahul, as the 'Hitman' had a strong belief in the 33-year-old's capability to play a significant role in India.
"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," Nayar, who was removed from the position after a BCCI review following the 3-1 series loss in Australia, told ESPNcricinfo.
Before the BGT series, India squared off against New Zealand in a three-match Test series on home soil. In the series opener, Rahul got out while tickling the delivery that went towards the leg side. In the second, he got out on a peach of a delivery and then witnessed Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan boss the Kiwis with their flamboyant approach. Eventually, India collapsed and lost the opening Test. Rahul didn't play in the next two Tests as India fell to a historic 3-0 series whitewash.
"I think that was sort of the inception [of our relationship]. 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," Nayar said.
"I told him, listen, we've got 15 days to prepare before we go to Australia, and take those ten days there, we have got almost month to prepare - what do you want to do? How do you want to approach this? What is your mindset?" he continued.
"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 added.
Nayar didn't give out the secret sauce and the tweaks he made that allowed Rahul to thrive but gave a sneak peek into the approach that he adopted and said, "All I can tell you is, the way I've always tried to handle things is to first try and address the skill, and then use skill as a medium to address the mind. That's as much as I can tell you in terms of details."
"It's about using practice to give his mind reassurance with the plan that we have, and what he needs to do to execute it. And then adding a lot of tactical nuances to that so that it gives him a slight edge when he's batting. So his focus is totally on following and executing those tactical adjustments and nuances rather than focusing on the result of it," Nayar added.