Former Indian batter Hemang Badani showered praise on KL Rahul after the right-hander played a crucial knock on the penultimate day of the fourth Test match against England. After the home team took a mammoth lead of 311 runs, India lost two wickets in the opening over, bowled by Chris Woakes.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan were dismissed without troubling the scorers as both were caught behind in the slips. However, Rahul continued his good form as he showed all the patience at the start of his innings.
Rahul remained unbeaten on 87 with Indian captain Shubman Gill undefeated on 78. The duo added 174 runs for the third wicket to keep India afloat.
Badani, who observed Rahul from close quarters as the head coach of Delhi Capitals, said the opener knows where his off-stump is, which helps him leave balls.
“In the entire series, he has made up his mind to stay there, that he would look to play cautiously and look to leave deliveries, and that’s his strength. The thing I liked the most is that he knows where his off-stump is. He has left a lot of deliveries. He has never flirted with the new ball,” Hemang Badani said on Sony Sports.
The former left-hander said Rahul has ensured that the dressing room atmosphere is calm whenever he is at the crease.
“He has let the new ball come to him and played it after watching it till the last moment. We got to see proper Test cricket. You need reliability from an opener. Once your opener goes to the middle, you should sit in the dressing room at ease. You know that KL Rahul is there, so you shouldn’t have any fear. He has given that confidence to the dressing room in this series,” Badani observed.
On the other hand, former Indian fast bowler Rudra Pratap Singh lauded KL Rahul for his guile shot selection against the England bowlers.
“He batted extremely well. The backfoot punch is his favorite shot, and he played that shot whenever he got an opportunity. He has played that shot from cover point to third man. I feel that when a batter relies more on one shot and plays the other balls with respect, he becomes extremely dangerous. The chances of getting him out reduce drastically,” he said.
“He has scored runs on the off-side because he is picking the line and length. Such batters are extremely dangerous for the bowlers. He played the drive only when the ball was absolutely full. When a batter doesn’t hit the deliveries that are away from him, where will we get the chances to get him out? He has figured out the better options to score runs on Day 4 in English conditions,” Singh elaborated.
India ended the day’s play at 174-2 and would aim to get a draw on Sunday.
