KL Rahul has lost the opening slot in the Test team to Rohit Sharma but he has not allowed that to affect his white-ball game.
KL Rahul. (Photo: Twitter/@BCCI)
Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir was impressed by KL Rahul’s batting against Sri Lanka in the 2nd Twenty-20 International (T20I) at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Tuesday and said that it “amazes” him to think why Rahul hasn’t done well in Test cricket.
“KL Rahul is in unbelievable form. It amazes me every time I see Rahul bat that why didn’t he play the same way in Test cricket. It’s not about only white-ball cricket; it is about Test cricket too. He just got into a shell too much,” Gambhir was quoted as saying to the official broadcasters of the three-match series between India and Sri Lanka.
“With the kind of quality he posses, he is someone who can get you a 50-ball 100 in Test cricket as well. The kind of shots he has is superb,” he added.
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The 27-year-old has lost the opening slot in the Test team to Rohit Sharma but he has not allowed that to affect his white-ball game. He has scores of 62, 11, 91 and 45 in his last four T20I innings.
Rahul gave India a blitzkrieg start in their chase of 143 as he scored 45 off 32 balls. He took the attack to the Sri Lanka bowlers and instantly gave India the upper hand with his brisk strokeplay. He also received apt support from Shikhar Dhawan at the other end.
Other than Rahul, Shreyas Iyer got 34 and the returning Dhawan made 32 as India eased past the Lankans. Before this, the bowlers had put up a good show with Saini shining bright as India restricted Sri Lanka to 142 for 9. All eyes were on the returning Bumrah after India captain Virat Kohli decided to field first.
Bumrah, who has been out of action after India’s tour of the West Indies in July-August last year due to a stress fracture on his back, returned figures of 1 for 32. However, Thakur and Saini stole the show with figures of 3 for 23 and 2 for 18, respectively.
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