KL Rahul admitted he found the fun in white-ball cricket again, thanks to training under Abhishek Nayar.
Delhi Capitals’ batter KL Rahul opened up on his renewed approach to white-ball cricket, crediting Team India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar for helping him rediscover the joy of the format. The 32-year-old admitted that working with Nayar over the past year has helped him reshape his game and mindset, especially after facing criticism for his slow strike rate in recent IPL seasons.
Rahul, who has been out of India’s T20I squad since the 2022 T20 World Cup, showed signs of revival during the Champions Trophy where he played crucial knocks in the semifinal and final. Now in IPL 2025, Rahul has started strong with his new franchise, Delhi Capitals, scoring 77 off 51 balls on a challenging Chepauk surface to guide his team to their third consecutive win.
Following the win, Capitals mentor and former England captain Kevin Pietersen praised Rahul during a post-match chat for adapting to different conditions and maintaining high strike rates.
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“Your intent in Vizag, you struck at 300 and I was happy with you. Today, striking at 150, still on a different wicket… you must be absolutely buzzing that you’re able to adapt your style to the modern-day game,” Pietersen said in a video shared by the ICC.
Rahul responded by acknowledging the support and guidance he received from Nayar. “I’ve worked really hard on my white-ball game in the last year or so. Big shout out to Abhishek Nayar. I’ve worked a lot with him ever since he’s come into the Indian team. We’ve spent hours and hours together talking about my white-ball game and how I can be better. We’ve worked hours and hours together in Bombay, and I think somewhere I’ve found the fun in playing white-ball cricket,” he said.
Rahul also reflected on his previous mindset of taking games deep, which he now recognises needed a shift. “I think somewhere along the way I lost the fun of hitting boundaries and hitting sixes. I wanted to take the game deep, deep, deep, and that somehow stuck in my head. But now I’ve realised that I need to go back,” Rahul added.
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