Your face cheered me up: KL Rahul gets emotional in candid chat with Hardik Pandya

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KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya are the best of friends and that was once again up for show when Hardik Pandya interviewed KL Rahul after the third T20I between India and West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Rahul inspired India to a resounding victory over the Windies as the hosts grabbed the series 2-1 and after the match, he was in a jolly mood with his close pal Hardik, who was present at the stadium to watch the game.

Hardik, who is recovering from a back injury after a surgery was present at the Wankhede on Wednesday and Rahul said that seeing him present in the stadium inspired him.

"I saw you and I got inspired. I saw you sitting in the stands and cheering for Team India. Your face cheered me up," Rahul said in an interview to BCCI.tv conducted by Hardik.

Rahul also said that he is an important part of the Indian set up and team misses him in the dressing room.

"We are also waiting for you to come back. The dressing room feels empty without you... at least for me...I don't know about the rest. We miss you...you and [Jasprit] Bumrah are so important for the team. Hopefully you guys recover and come back soon."

Rahul, who slammed 91 off 56 balls in the series decider, also heaped praise on Rohit Sharma (71 off 34 balls) and Virat Kohli (70* off 29 balls) for their destructive batting as they powered the hosts to 240/3 in their 20 overs.

"I enjoy opening the batting with Rohit and he makes things a lot more easy and I've said this before also that oppositions are always thinking about Rohit and I get a few freebies and that's all a batsman wants to get his innings going.

"And, Virat was outstanding. He was so pumped up to be in the middle. I haven't seen such an innings from him for a long time. From ball one he started striking well and even in Hyderabad he was hitting the ball so well. The top three have got a good hit and Shivam [Dube] also played well in the last game. So, you know, things are looking good as a batting unit," the Karnataka opener said.

Hardik also joined in and said that seeing the trio bat, he also wanted to be a part of the action.

"The way you guys were playing I was feeling that I should grab a bat and go in the middle," said Hardik.

India will next play a three-match ODI series against West Indies, starting on December 15 at the Chepauk to cap off the calendar year 2019.