ICC victories are not so easy to get: KL Rahul after Champions Trophy win

NEW DELHI: KL Rahul is thrilled to have made the move to the No. 6 batting position and attributes it to his relentless "preparation" and ongoing game improvement.

Rahul, who typically bats at number five, scored 140 runs in four innings in Dubai after being demoted to a lower position in the Champions Trophy.

"It's really pleasing for me. The work that I'm putting in to different roles requires a lot of preparation, work outside the cricket field, thinking about how I need to take each game and how I need to perform in different situations and watch some of the players that bat at 5, 6 and how they've been successful," said Rahul following India's Champions Trophy triumph on Sunday.

Rahul expressed his happiness at assuming this new role for the team.

"I've been taught from a very early age by my coaches that cricket is a team game and whatever the team requires of you, you need to be able to accept that and find a way to put in performances for the team and understand what your role is, understand what the responsibility is, understand what it takes to be successful batting in different positions," he added.

Rahul delivered minor but impactful knocks in the semifinal match against Australia and the final match against New Zealand, living up to his words.

The Bengaluru player scored an undefeated 42 against the Australians, while his 32 not out helped India win a close chase against the Kiwis.

Even though he only scored 140 runs overall, his 98 strike rate shows how much of an impact those runs had on the outcome of the match.

That's what skipper Rohit Sharma said.

"The pressure doesn't get to him with that calmness, we wanted that calmness in the middle. I'm very, very happy with how he managed to pull this tournament and batted in the pressure situation, both in semifinals and this game as well.

"The contribution may not be 70-80, but those 30-40s are a very, very important one," said Rohit.

Rahul was ecstatic to get the Champions Trophy as a reward for his efforts.

"I'm very happy at the moment, ICC victories are not so easy to get. It's my first run so I'm very happy over the moon and really happy with the way we've played this entire tournament and it's been a complete team effort," he noted.

Rahul made significant stumping and catches and was a confident presence behind the wickets as well.

Because "keeping was not an easy task in these conditions where spinners dominated," the 32-year-old was elated.

"It's not something very new and the role of a wicketkeeper batsman that I'm doing here in the Indian team, I think from 2019 or 2020. I do wicket keeping in IPL as well.

"But I think this is the most challenging place that I've kept wickets in. I worked really hard and I have to mention our fielding coach Dilip sir also, he worked very hard with me…his tips and whatever he noticed about my keeping, so it worked," he added.