IND vs NZ 2026: 'Batting at five or six has helped me understand my batting a lot more' - KL Rahul

KL Rahul explained the difference between opening the batting and playing lower down the order after calmly taking India over the line in the first ODI against New Zealand on Sunday, January 11.

At the BCA Stadium in Vadodara, India were under a little bit of pressure towards the back end of the innings when they needed 58 runs to win off the last 53 balls. Harshit Rana and KL Rahul, who batted at No. 6, added a 37-run partnership to take India towards the 301-run target. While Rana was going hammer

and tongs, Rahul patiently gave his partner as much of the strike as he could.

Later, when Rana was dismissed, an injured Washington Sundar joined Rahul at the crease. The latter knew he had to do the bulk of the scoring, and he amassed 20 runs off his last nine balls to take the team home.

After India romped home with four wickets and an over to spare, Rahul spoke about the challenges of batting lower down the order and how it has helped his game.

"I honestly walk in and look at the scoreboard and see what I need to do for the next few overs. If I'm opening the batting, obviously, I get, a lot of overs and most of the overs I can plan that, and that's something that I've done throughout my life, so I never had to plan or think about how can I be consistent in that phase," Rahul said while speaking to the broadcasters.

"Honestly, I think batting at five or six has helped me understand my batting a lot more. It's a completely different challenge. I walk in at a stage like that where you need to hit a boundary properly from ball one and, and there's so much pressure and there. You have 5 fielders outside. When you're opening the batting, you don't see fielders at all. Everyone's right next to you, so it's much easier batting there," Rahul added.

There is a lot more pressure at No.6: Rahul

While Rahul mentioned that playing at No. 6 comes with a lot of pressure as mistakes can be very costly for the team, he said he is open to batting anywhere rather than sitting on the bench.

"There is a lot more pressure at No.6 and one mistake and you can be on the losing side and all the blame comes on you. It's been exciting and I'm grateful that the opportunities that I've got every time I've been put under pressure, I've somehow found a way to make it work for the team and get the team over the line. So I'm just happy and I'm just like going along with it and I've said this before, I just want to be in the XI, put me anywhere. I'm happy to do the job," said Rahul.