T20 World Cup: India's KL Rahul too good to fail consistently

The great Sunil Gavaskar said on air that the opener’s first movement of the left foot gets him into a problem

By Anis Sajan

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India's KL Rahul bats during the T20 World Cup match against the Netherlands in Sydney. — AP

Published: Fri 28 Oct 2022, 7:47 PM

Last updated: Fri 28 Oct 2022, 8:10 PM

Is KL Rahul’s form a big concern for team India in the T20 World Cup after two consecutive failures? That’s been the question from every Indian fan.

KL Rahul, after showing good form in the bilateral series against Australia and South Africa at home and in the warm-up game against Australia at Perth, has gone off the boil in the first two games against Pakistan and the Netherlands. He was tentative and playing neither completely on the front foot or back foot, which led him to being bowled against Pakistan and leg before wicket against the Netherlands.

In the four matches against Pakistan starting with the previous World Cup in the UAE, Rahul had been cleaned up by a beauty by Shaheen Shah Afridi, with a ball that jagged back in and, in the first game against Pakistan at this year's World Cup, he got an inside edge off pacer Naseem Shah and was bowled, the same way as he was, in the first game in the Asia Cup, to Naseem.

Sunil Gavaskar (right) with Anis Sajan

The great Sunil Gavaskar said on air that KL Rahul’s first movement of the left foot gets him into a problem and it is clear by recent form that he needs to get it sorted out again. The little master added that Rahul does not move forward or back or stay still, one of the three key elements of batting against pace which is needed. Instead, Rahul sort of wobbles a bit and gets pretty tentative with his defensive prod.

So, what should Rahul do when he is getting out playing indecisive shots? The best thing for Rahul is to play freely with an open mind and attack the pacers from ball one. He has got all the shots in the book and can tear apart any bowling attack in the world. The talent he possesses is incredible, it’s the mindset, in short, his temperament needs to be solid. And if he can get that sorted, he can be handy for team India in the power play. The shots he plays off the spinners are also out of this world and one hopes this classy batsman comes good for India in their quest for a second T20 World Cup title.

Anis Sajan is the vice-chairman of the Danube Group