Team India batter KL Rahul is imposing shackles on his mind and letting his brain cloud its judgement with the bat in hand, reckons fellow Karnataka statesman and former India cricketer Robin Uthappa, who talked about the opener’s persistent struggles in the ongoing World Cup.
Rahul has been a shaky starter at the top in all three of India’s Super 12 encounters of the tournament so far. At no stage has the elegant right-hander looked good with his footwork facing the new ball against the quicks.
He made 4 off 8 balls versus Pakistan and has since backed that up with scores of 9 off 12 and 9 off 14 deliveries against the Netherlands and South Africa, respectively. The same batter struck a superquick half-century in the warm-up game versus Australia but has had another of his longstanding temperamental shifts.
Given India have travelled with no backup opener other than leaving open a make-shift arrangement possibility of Virat Kohli moving up the order, it is expected the team management will continue to back Rahul throughout the tournament. But to win the competition, the side needs the player to repay that trust.
For Uthappa, like other prominent names within Indian cricket, Rahul’s case is that of a scrambled brain rather than approaching the ball with a free mind and coming out with his naturally attacking ways at the top of the order and maximising the powerplay.
“KL Rahul is a proven campaigner and when he fires, he is going to be a match-winner for India. I feel they should continue backing him,”
he said on ESPNcricinfo.
“When you back a player like him consistently, there will come a point when he will finally perform. Rahul is under a lot of pressure and it seems as if he has gone into a shell and his mind is clouded,”
Uthappa added.
India would be worried with Rahul’s continuous problems at the top against major opposition. Since the beginning of 2021, he is averaging a measly 19.82 with a strike-rate of 113.86 in T20Is against full-member countries bar West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland.
