Have become a better cricketer in last one year: K L Rahul

MUMBAI: Enjoying a prolific run with the bat, Young Indian opener K L Rahul today said he has become a better cricketer in the last one year owing to a roller-coaster ride both in the domestic and international arena.

Rahul sat out of the first two Tests against Australia before making a debut without much success in the third game at Melbourne and then slamming his maiden hundred (110) in the fourth and last match at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January.

"It's an important phase and I am really enjoying it. Quite honestly it's a dream run not only for the happiness. I have had my share of disappointments too, like in Australia in the first Test and in a few games in the IPL as well. I did not make use of the opportunities as I should have," he said.

"The last year has taught me a lot. I have become a much stronger and better cricketer," said the 23-year-old Rahul, who has a first-class triple hundred and has performed moderately well in IPL with a top score of 44 not out against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Rahul said the current phase in his cricket career, in which he has showed phenomenal appetite for scoring runs in first class cricket, was crucial and he was thoroughly rejoicing it even with its ups and downs.

"Everybody has different ways of playing the game. I totally enjoyed playing in Australia. I think they play very tough cricket and the brand of cricket they play is very strong. You need to be mentally and physically very strong to go and perform in Australia," said the Karnataka youngster who plays for SunRisers Hyderabad in the IPL.

After his twin failures in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne on his international debut, Rahul was lucky to be let off in the 40s in the next Test by rival captain Steve Smith who dropped the high catch after a spider camera's wire came in his view and upset his focus.

Rahul said facing up to verbal volleys was quite a challenge during the Australian tour.

"Obviously. It's like asking if you ate sweets in a festival. You know when you go to Australia you will get sledged. That's the fun of the game. That's the best thing about playing in different countries," said Rahul when asked whether he was sledged during India's visit Down Under.