Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra hailed KL Rahul’s performances in the 2025 Champions Trophy. India lifted their third Champions Trophy title after beating New Zealand by four wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday.
Rahul added the finishing touches in the run-chase of 252, scoring a crucial knock of 34 runs off just 33 balls. The flamboyant batter added 38 runs with Hardik Pandya to take India close to the target.
Rahul scored a total of 140 runs in four innings of the eight-team tournament at an average of 140 and a strike rate of 97.90. The wicket-keeper bat also scored a crucial knock of 42 runs off 34 balls in the semifinal against Australia.
Chopra hailed Rahul for his consistent performances while batting at number six.
“KL Rahul is blamed whenever anything goes wrong. However, the way he has played in this entire tournament. Axar Patel comes at No. 5 and he (Rahul) plays at No. 6. The No. 6 guy gets to bat only when there is a little pressure, and this is the sort of pitch where batting keeps getting tougher as the old gets older,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
The renowned commentator lauded Rahul for showing all the calmness while batting and taking the onus on his shoulders.
“The six he hit off (Mitchell) Santner’s bowling, there were many pivotal moments like that. Run-a-ball was required to be scored and he did that. He stood till the end. He is the one who gives you calmness. In fact, in the last match, he even asked Kohli why he was hitting as he (Rahul) would take the risk. He takes the responsibility to help his partner reach a hundred,” Chopra added.
Chopra also lauded the consistent performances of Shreyas Iyer. The right-hander scored 243 runs in five matches of the tournament and also scored a crucial knock of 48 runs in the summit clash against the Kiwis.
“I am going to talk about Iyer. Maybe slightly lesser popular choice because the focus is more on players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. An interesting stat was that his strike rate has always been better than his partner. It means he removes the pressure from his partner,” he said.
“Until he is on the ground, he keeps you slightly ahead in the game. You don’t expect eight to ten runs per over on these kinds of pitches, but you don’t want wickets to fall and want five to six runs per over being scored. He does that job easily and did that in this match too. Shreyas Iyer is the new Shreyas Mr Consistent Iyer,” Chopra elaborated.
Both Iyer and Rahul will be seen playing for Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals respectively in the IPL.
