KL Rahul has become an all-format player for Team India in current times. While Rahul dons the role of an opener in Tests and T20Is, the right-hander plays in the middle-order for India in the 50-over format. However, he wasn’t a regular starter in all forms of the game a few years back. 

In the 2019 ODI World Cup, Rahul was part of India’s middle-order before Shikhar Dhawan’s injury promoted him as an opener along with Rohit Sharma. Rahul returned with 361 runs in his maiden 50-over World Cup, with a century and two fifties. Despite his good run with the willow in the showpiece event, Rahul was part of India’s T20I, ODI and Test squads for the following West Indies tour, however, he was dropped from the playing XI in the white-ball series.

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Rahul recently spilled the beans on his sudden omission from India’s playing XI. In a chat with Gaurav Kapoor in the new season of Breakfast with Champions, Rahul said, “I remember in 2019, I think we played the World Cup and right after it, we went to the West Indies for a series. I played the World Cup, I did decently well and then we went into the series and I got dropped. I was messaging him, he said ‘Come by the pool. I’m having a drink’. It was his 300th game the next day so he was very happy and he had some friends over. So I went. I was by the pool. He came, sat with me, spoke to me that why are you not playing.”

Rahul then revealed how Universe Boss Chris Gayle came to his aid and lifted his spirits. “You know, I obviously was frustrated because I played the World Cup and I’m not playing this. Makes no sense. So, I was just talking to him and he’s like ‘See you can always say that you’re not playing because of 100 other reasons but it’s in your hands whether you play or not. If 70 is not enough, get 150. If you are getting 150, get 200 if that’s not enough. That’s how you need to look at things. If a 600-run IPL season is not enough, then get 800. Or like you’re getting 50s, 60s in the World Cup, you should have converted that and gotten 100-120s. Then no one has the power to drop you’,” he further added.