IND vs AUS: 'Used my experience,'Rahul credits his time with Punjab Kings after fifty in 1st T20I

KL Rahul credited his time with Punjab Kings (PBKS) after scoring a half-century in India's first T20I against Australia on Tuesday.

During the innings break, Rahul said he had played a lot in Mohali during his stint with PBKS in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and he knew what shots worked at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium.

Rahul, who has been on the receiving end of criticism for low strike rate in the shortest format, scored his runs at 157.14 as he struck three sixes and four boundaries in his knock of 55 runs off 35 deliveries.

"Looks a good pitch. It took some time to get used to the bounce of the pitch. I have played here in the IPL and I knew the shots that work here. I used my experience. I always work on hitting on both sides of the ground and get into good positions. Fortunately the ball was in the areas where I could hit it for sixes. Glad they came off the middle of the bat," Rahul said after India put up 208 runs on the board.

India's 208 for 6 was also the Men in Blue's highest total against Australia in the T20Is. Their previous best was 202 for 4, which had come in Rajkot in 2013.

Rahul's 55 runs took his T20I runs tally to over 2,000 runs. He became the second-fastest Indian batter to do so as he reached the landmark in 58 innings, two more than Virat Kohli. Overall, Rahul was the third-fastest to 2,000 T20I runs, after Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (52 innings each) and Kohli.

When Rahul got out, India's score was 103 for the loss of three wickets in 11.5 overs. Earlier, Rahul had a forgettable run in the Asia Cup where he struggled against quality fast bowling. Apart from the 62-run knock that he played against Afghanistan, Rahul looked to be struggling in every game.

In 62 matches so far in his T20I career for India, Rahul has scored 2,018 runs at an average of 39.56 and strike rate of 141.31. He has recorded two centuries so far, with the hundreds coming against the West Indies (2016) and England (2018).

Meanwhile, earlier in the innings India captain Rohit Sharma equaled New Zealand opener Martin Guptill in the list of most sixes in the T20Is. Rohit, who struck a six in his knock of 11 off 9 balls in the first innings on Tuesday, now has 172 sixes in the T20Is, the same as Guptill. West Indies' Chris Gayle is second in the list with 124 strikes, ahead of former England captain Eoin Morgan (120), Australia skipper Aaron Finch (118), and Ireland's Paul Sterling (111).