Rahul Reveals Smith, Williamson Inspiration For Middle-Order Batting

KL Rahul is most comfortable to bat as an opener but to deliver as a middle-order batsman, he prepared for the challenge by picking the brains of modern-day great Virat Kohli apart from watching videos of Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and AB de Villiers. Batting at number five, Rahul conjured up a 52-ball 80 to lead India to a formidable 340 for six against Australia in the second ODI, which the hosts won by 36 runs to level the series in Rajkot on Friday. In the first ODI, Rahul had batted at number three in place of his skipper Kohli, scoring 47 off 61 balls.

"I don't think technically I have practiced anything different. I just spoke a lot more to middle-order batsmen and watched a lot of videos. I spoke a lot to Virat (Kohli) and watched a lot of videos of AB (de Villiers) and Steve Smith for that matter and how they build their innings," Rahul said at post-match press conference.

"Kane Williamson is somebody I've tried to go back and watch some of his videos and see how he build his innings and how they play in certain situations. The only thing I'm trying to learn is how I can use my game and be better at a certain situation."