KL Rahul may have failed in the first two games of India’s T20 World Cup 2022 but the opener has all the backing and the trust of the team management, suggested batting coach Vikram Rathour.
Rathour said India aren’t in the mood to react too early to Rahul’s twin early dismissals versus Pakistan and Netherlands and will back him to come out all guns blazing against South Africans at Perth on Sunday.
Rahul has had another temperamental shift of his own at the top of the order at this event. Even as skipper Rohit Sharma has continued with the evident intent to keep the accelerator mode on, his partner at the top has approached games looking all too nervous and anxious facing the new ball.
While Rahul collected 4 runs off 8 balls before his dismissal versus Pakistan, he was out for 9 from 12 deliveries versus the Dutch. On both occasions, it was a case of his feet not moving on time, as he seemed to have self-imposed shackles affecting his game all over again.
In form, Rahul would be one of the players India could bank on ahead of a critical encounter against South Africa in challenging conditions at the Optus Stadium. But his struggles at the top have left open the possibility of him being sidelined. Rathour, however, said there is no such consideration from within the think-tank at this stage.
“No, we’re not really thinking that. Two games, I don’t think that’s a good enough sample size anyways. He’s been batting really well and he’s batted really well in the practice games, also, so we’re not looking at any such thing at the moment,”
Rathour told the reporters on the eve of the Proteas clash.
Along the lines of dropping Rahul, there has been an alternate suggestion to bring in Rishabh Pant in the side in his spot and make him open with Rohit. But Rathour said the wicketkeeper-batter will have to wait for his opportunities.
“Only 11 can play unfortunately and I know and understand Rishabh is a fantastic player and we know he can be destructive against any opposition.”
“The message to him is be ready and your chance might come anytime. He should be mentally and physically ready. He is doing that and you might have seen him practicing regularly. I am sure he will be ready whenever opportunity comes.”
Being a middle-order left-hander with the capability to destroy opposition attacks, Pant was always India’s first-choice heading into this T20 World Cup. But he lost his place due to consistent struggles with the bat in hand, with late-order aggressor Dinesh Karthik holding onto his position in the side through the weight of his performances. Pant has a horrible T20I record to his name, averaging 24.02 with a strike-rate of 127.45 after 52 innings.
In India’s two games so far, batting great Virat Kohli has started off slowly before exploding and producing two outstanding half-centuries, including a match-winning 82 not out versus Pakistan. When asked if there is a plan for Kohli to deliberately slow down at the beginning of his stay, Rathour said the batter’s approach is dictated purely by the match scenarios and the conditions on offer.
“We pride ourselves to be a team which will take the conditions and situation into account, and that’s what we’ve been looking to do,”
he said, backing Kohli and the rest of the batters to successfully counter the pace and bounce in Perth against South Africa.
