Akash Chopra has backed Indian batsman KL Rahul despite recent slump in form and said that there’s no point asking questions, doubting a match-winner over a couple of failed innings. KL Rahul was the top ranked batsman until last week, just ahead of the 1st T20I, when he dropped a spot in the ICC rankings to take the No. 3 position.
KL Rahul has maintained himself as a versatile cricketer who can be translated into any batting position in the top and middle-order. The 28-year-old took up wicketkeeping duties last year as Rishabh Pant was dropped from the side in New Zealand and in the white-ball leg of the Australia tour.
“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).
In a rare show of back to back failed knocks for KL, the batsman managed to score a 1 and a zero in the 1st and 2nd T20Is, respectively. However, Rahul averages over 40 in the shortest format for India and a massive strike rate of 143.66 shows how big an asset he is to the side. The criticisms being hurled at KL Rahul might thus be premature.
India recorded a 7-wicket win over England in the 2nd T20I to level the series at 1-1. The two teams will lock horns in Ahmedabad, behind closed doors at the Narendra Modi stadium, for the 3rd T20I on Tuesday (March 16).
