Former Indian opener and now a renowned commentator Aakash Chopra has put his weight behind under-fire KL Rahul.
Chopra believes we can’t question a match-winner like Rahul after only two low scores. Rahul was dismissed for one in the first T20I against England whereas he couldn’t even trouble the scorers in the second game.
In fact, Rahul has returned with scores of 0,1,0 in his last three T20I matches. However, Chopra believes if we will follow the same pattern of targeting players after two bad performances, we might not be able to even make a team of 11 players.
Rahul is one of the best T20 batsmen in the world and he can take the game away from the opposition with his blistering batting. The Indian opener has done a fine job for the team in the past and he has performed well in the Indian Premier League.
Rahul has scored 1543 runs in 47 T20I matches at an impressive average of 41.7 and a blistering strike rate of 143.7. Furthermore, the flamboyant batsman has scored 2647 runs in 81 IPL matches at an average of 44.9 and a strike rate of 135.8. Thus, Rahul has been a consistent performer in the shortest format of the game.
“If we start asking questions about a runaway match-winner after just two low-scores, we aren’t going to build a team that’ll win the World Cup. If it’s Rahul today, it’ll be Ishan tomorrow…Pant day after. And then…will have a team of insecure players,” Aakash Chopra tweeted on Monday (March 15).
Rahul will aim to get back in form and prove his mettle in the remaining matches. The right-hander had opened the innings with Shikhar Dhawan in the first T20I and then opened with Ishan Kishan in the second game.
As Ishan Kishan had performed brilliantly in his debut match, the left-hander is expected to retain his place in the final XI. Furthermore, the team’s vice-captain Rohit Sharma is also expected to come back into the playing XI as he was rested from the first two T20Is. Thus, there could be a chance that KL Rahul might get a rest after two ordinary performances.
The third T20I will be played today at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad behind closed doors.
