Can’t have short-term memory, KL Rahul should play on his return to Asia Cup: Irfan Pathan

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels the team management can’t have short-term memory and KL Rahul should play on his return to Asia Cup. In the absence of Rahul, Ishan Kishan grabbed his chance as he scored a fine knock of 82 runs off just 81 balls in a high-octane clash against Pakistan.

Rahul was carrying a niggle and missed out on the two group-stage matches against Pakistan and Nepal of the ongoing continental tournament. However, as per the current report, Rahul is close to full fitness and he could be included in the team’s playing XI for the Super Fours stage match against Pakistan.

Rahul has scored 1986 runs in 54 ODI matches at an average of 45.14. In the absence of Rishabh Pant, Rahul will be India’s first-choice wicket-keeper batter but Kishan has also made a strong case for himself.

The 31-year-old Rahul has done a fantastic job while batting at number five for the national team, scoring 742 runs in 18 ODIs at an average of 53 and a strike rate of 99.33 while batting at that position.

“You shouldn’t have short-term memory. You should have long-term thinking and I feel the thinking with which the management is going is absolutely correct because if you keep going with short-term memory, you will have a lot of difficulty in making the team, stabilizing it, and giving confidence to the guys,” Irfan Pathan told Star Sports.

“You just have to keep in mind that if KL Rahul comes and plays and doesn’t get his form, then you can say that he didn’t regain his form after injury and you can give Ishan Kishan the entire World Cup. However, as soon as KL Rahul comes, he will play,” he added.

Pathan added we should not forget that Rahul has delivered the goods while batting at number five in the last two years whereas Kishan’s natural position is not in the middle order.

“Ishan Kishan scored runs against Pakistan at No. 5, which is not his position. God forbid if he gets out in the next match, will we say he is not in form? No, that’s not the case. We forget very quickly. We should never forget KL Rahul’s numbers for the last two years and Ishan Kishan has played one innings,” Irfan added.

India will next face Pakistan in the Super Fours of the Asia Cup at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Sunday.