Though his captain and team were always behind him, many had questioned the justification of keeping KL Rahul in the playing XI despite his repeated failures in the T20I series against England. He finally lost his place in the team for the final T20I.

After rediscovering form — he played a crucial knock of 62 not out in the first ODI on Tuesday — Rahul said that he was never short on confidence, his “self-belief” keeping him focused on his job.

“I was always confident and for a player to come this far, it’s only self-belief that takes him far. There has never been an issue when it came to my self-belief or confidence.

“Sometimes in sports, you do everything possible and it still doesn’t go your way. You just have to accept it and try and learn from your mistakes and the hard days, and then try and get back stronger,” Rahul said during a virtual media interaction on the eve of the second ODI in Pune.

Highlighting the importance of net sessions in cricket, Rahul said he never got worried as he was hitting the ball well during training.

“I knew that in practice sessions and at nets, I was batting well. If my batting was the real issue, I would not have been very confident. Yes, scoring runs is important and everything for a player, but I also look at myself during training, if I am hitting the ball well and if my mind is in the right place.

“Only thing that was not working for me was the numbers chart.”

Negotiating the first 20 to 25 balls safely during his innings on Tuesday helped Rahul to settle down. “You obviously carry your confidence or a bad performance into the next game as well, so the hardest thing for a player to forget is what happened a couple of days or games back.

“But yeah, in the ODI format and playing at No.5, I could take a little bit more time than I did in the T20Is. In the T20Is, I wanted to give myself time, but it just wasn’t going my way. But having spent a little bit of time in the middle (during the first ODI), hitting good shots off the middle of the bat with footwork also going well, my nerves calmed down a bit,” Rahul acknowledged.

“When I walked out to bat, Shikhar (Dhawan) was batting well, but then we lost a couple of wickets. When Krunal (Pandya) walked in, I, having played a little bit more cricket than him, realised we had to stitch a partnership.

“So in a way when you stop thinking about your personal game and when there’s the team’s responsibility ahead of you, you start thinking clearer. After the first 20-25 balls I faced, I felt more confident,” he emphasised.

Rahul also stressed the need to stay balanced regardless of the situation. “I’ve always tried to stay balanced, while it’s also important to treat a game like a game. That keeps you a lot calmer.”