India batsman KL Rahul revealed he was frustrated over the lack of opportunities in Test cricket with the Indian team. Rahul was not in the reckoning for a place in the playing XI ahead of the start of the ongoing five-match Test series between India and England, however, injuries to Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal paved way for his comeback in the team. Rahul was India’s best batsman in the recently-concluded first Test between the two sides in Nottingham.
Rahul has been part of the Test squad since India’s tour of Australia last year but was not managing to make the cut in the playing XI. With Gill ruled out of the entire England series and Agarwal sustaining a head injury ahead of the first Test, Rahul was asked to open with Rohit Sharma in the Nottingham encounter. Rahul played his first Test since August 2019 when he stepped out to open the batting with Rohit in the recently-concluded first Test.
He made the most of the opportunity and top-scored with an 84-run-knock in India’s first innings as the likes of Virat Kohli (0), Cheteshwar Pujara (4) and Ajinkya Rahane (5) failed to deliver. Rahul played a gritty knock and helped India post 278 runs on the board, in reply to England’s first innings total of 183 runs.
“From the last 2-3 series (away vs Australia and vs England in India), I have been sitting outside. The team was doing really well and I was very happy to be part of the team and seeing how we were beating teams in India and then Australia,” Rahul said in a presser post the conclusion of first Test.
“So it was great to be part of it, but also very frustrating that opportunities weren’t coming. It was only practise, practise and practise and as a player you want to be in the middle and want to challenge yourself, so I kept waiting for my opportunity, so I am very happy that it came in England,” he added.
The series-opener between India and England ended in a draw after the fifth and final day of the Test match was washed out due to rain. With 52/1 on the board at stumps on Day 4, India were in a strong position, requiring 157 runs to win. However, rain played spoilsport as the five-match series kicked off with a no result in the opening game.
