Rahul relishing dual role, says staying behind stumps helps batting too

Wicket-keeping alongside batting is a lot more work but India's KL Rahul on Friday said "he is loving" the additional responsibility as it is bringing the best out of him.

Rahul scored 56 off 27 balls as his 99-run partnership with Virat Kohli set up the base for India to chase New Zealand's 203 runs in the opener T20 here.

Rahul kept full-time first during three-match ODI series against Australia last week. Following his good work with both bat and behind the stumps, Kohli had said he will continue with his dual role "for a while" as it lends massive balance to the team.

"I'm quite honestly loving it. At the international stage, it might seem very new and it might seem like I've never kept. (But) I've kept for my IPL franchise for the last 3-4 years, and I've kept for my first-class team as and when there is an opening. I've still stayed in touch with wicket keeping.

"I enjoy staying behind the stumps and it also gives me a great idea about how the pitch is playing, and I can pass on that message to the bowlers and the captains with field-sets and everything. As a keeper, that's also your responsibility to stay active and pass the message on to your captain as to what lengths are better and what I feel we can do better."
"As a batsman as well, after keeping for 20 overs, especially you get a fair idea on what are the good shots on this kind of wicket and so I'm enjoying the responsibility and so far so good for me."
"So that's the only thing that worked really well for me and obviously it helps that I got runs there as well and I could come back into the Indian team with runs behind me."