Young Dynamite Lokesh Rahul Ready for Australia Challenge

On the eve of Team India's departure for their four-Tests in Australia, newcomer Lokesh Rahul admits that he is nervous but says is also excited ahead of the series Down Under. At 22, the youngster has been picked for a challenging tour and he says it has been one of his greatest achievement.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Rahul said he was looking forward to putting up a good performance. "I am very confident and I have been batting well," the opener said. "Hopefully, I can continue with the same form (from domestic cricket) and confidence when I get a chance in international cricket as well. I am watching the ball really well, I am moving well in the crease which is a big positive for me. I am very confident while batting, so I am hoping to continue in the same vein," Rahul added.

The Karnataka batsman was named in India's 19-man squad as back-up for regular openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay. However, his selection did not come as a surprise as the 2013 domestic season had seen Rahul in brilliant form. He scored 1158 runs in 15 first-class games at an average of 52.63. Rahul hit three centuries and started the new season with a bang when he slammed a ton in each innings for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy final.

Rahul believes his success is due to how he mentally approaches his batting. He maintains that whenever he made a mistake and got out, he would work on his game to be able to face quality bowling on different wickets.

"At certain points after playing the new ball and doing all the hard work, somewhere I played a rash shot," he said. "Perhaps it was a lack of concentration, so I have worked on that aspect. Also I have realised that to succeed in international cricket, I will have to be a better back-foot player. The wickets are going to be harder and bouncier, and the bowlers are going to be so much quicker. I practiced a lot on my back-foot play and getting used to the pace of international bowlers and making that switch from 130s to 140s (kph)." (Dhoni to Miss First Test in Australia, Kohli to Lead)

While the Australia tour would be the youngster's first outing with the national team, Rahul toured Down Under earlier this year as part of India A. He scored 101 runs in two Tests against Australia A with an average of 33.66 from 3 innings which included a fifty. He feels that his experience from that tour has improved his game.

"The wickets were very different when we went there last time, he said. "But I did learn a lot about my batting. I was getting starts and I couldn't convert them into bigger runs. Once I came back from Australia, I really worked a lot on my fitness and batting. I was getting carried away in the 30s and 40s, so I have worked with my coach on that aspect. I am focusing for long hours and I am pretty happy with the way, I've started off the season."

Rahul is not letting the prospect of facing the mighty Aussies affect him. He says he is also not concerned by the fact that he is getting his first taste of international competition away from home. Rahul admits that an overseas tour is the best way to be exposed to the challenges of the game and can't wait to get his chance.

"Maybe I could have played 2-3 series in India but I wouldn't have felt like it is international cricket. This is one tour where I will get so much international exposure, everything is going to be entirely different. It is going to be a great experience for me and I am really looking forward to it," said Rahul.

His initiation into first-class cricket came in 2010 at the age of 18. Among those who feel Rahul always had potential to make it into the national team is former India skipper Rahul Dravid. Dravid had already picked him in his squad for the Aussie tour well before the final names were announced by the selectors.

Rahul looks up to Dravid and feels lucky that he has his backing. He says that since his early days in the game, Dravid has always been there to offer tips on batting whenever asked. "We share the same name, so the comfort level is much better. It becomes easier for me to go and approach him," said Rahul. "Since my junior cricket days, I've been going to him and asking a lot of questions about batting, technically and mentally. He's been of great help, he's always helped me with my batting and I have been very lucky to have someone like him backing me."

Rahul has represented India at the under-19 level and played the U-19 World Cup in 2010. Good performances with the bat have seen him rise through the levels of cricket at a rapid pace. With the chance to put on an India cap, he is looking to stick to the basics which have brought him success till now.

Lokesh Rahul has played 27 first-class matches scoring 2100 runs at an average of 51.21. He has 6 hundreds and 8 fifties with a personal best of 185.