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IPL ‘key moment’ in believing in my T20 ability – Rahul
- Updated: September 14, 2016
India batsman KL Rahul has said the 2016 IPL season was the “key moment” for him to start believing in his abilities as a short-format batsman. Rahul scored 397 runs in 14 matches this season at a strike rate of 146.49 for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He also hit 16 sixes in the season to finish joint fifth on the list of most sixes. He had hit only five sixes in the previous IPL season.
Rahul went on to earn a call up to the Indian ODI and T20 squads. He smashed a century in Zimbabwe on his ODI debut and produced a spectacular assault in Florida against West Indies that nearly took India to victory in pursuit of the highest successful T20I chase. He is now one of only three Indians, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma being the other two, to have made an international century in all three formats of the game.
“This year’s IPL was the key moment for me to start believing in myself and my shorter format abilities,” Rahul told ESPNcricinfo. “Once people saw it, they started believing it too. I think it is very important when your own team-mates start believing that you have the game. I always knew I could play the shorter format but it was about putting a few performances there. A couple of good innings and I knew I will start believing a lot more in myself, so yes it worked out well for me this summer.”
Besides his spectacular form in the …
