Pune, March 25 (IANS) India batsman KL Rahul, who returned to form in the first ODI after a string of failures in the T20 series against England, said that he needed some game time to get back among runs and form.

"The only thing I know is that the more time you spend time in the middle, the calmer you get. Even as an opener, that (spending time in the middle) calms you down. That is the only thing I know. The only important thing is to spend time [in the middle]," said Rahul while speaking to the media during an interaction on Thursday.

"Like I said, the one-day format, playing at No. 5. I could take a little bit more time than I would in T20s. I wanted to give myself time. Having spent some time in the middle and having hit a couple of good shots from the middle, footwork going well, your nerves tend to calm down a little more," added Rahul who scored a 43-ball 62 in the first match on Tuesday. He had not played much over the past four months even though he has been travelling with the team and doing net sessions.

The right-handed batsman said that with this Indian team, you can't relax and take your place for granted.

"When you are a part of this Indian team, you know the competition is really, really high. You can never sit back and be comfortable and feel that you own your position. You will always be challenged. That is a good thing, that is how much talent our country has got. There would be players coming and knocking on the door. As a player in the team, you always try to push yourself and keep training harder and keep working harder on your game and get better and better and whenever the opportunity comes you grab it with both hands and yeah, try and keep doing in every series."

--IANS kh/