Gautam Gambhir, who had mentored Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL earlier this year, said the batsman should be allowed to play freely.
Gautam Gambhir, who had mentored Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL earlier this year, said the batsman should be allowed to play freely.
Rejecting the suggestion that Virat Kohli should bat in the T20 World Cup, former India opener Gautam Gambhir has strongly backed KL Rahul for the job, and said that the out-of-form batsman “maybe has more potential”.
Kohli’s return to form in the Asia Cup, especially as an opener, when he ended his long wait for a century with a 61-ball 122 against Afghanistan, fueled debate as to whether he should be allowed to play in Australia. I should be preferred over Rahul at the top in next month’s showpiece. ,
Gambhir said, “You know what happens in India? As soon as someone starts doing very well, for example, when Virat Kohli scored a century in the last game, we all start to forget that Rahul and Rohit What has he done in the long run,” Gambhir said. On Star Sports during a virtual press conference ahead of India’s three-match T20I series against Australia.
“When you talk about Kohli opening the batting, imagine what happens to KL Rahul… Imagine how insecure he (Rahul) must be feeling. Imagine if they get a low score in the first game, there will be another debate on it. Should Kohli open in the next match.” Coming back from a prolonged injury break after the IPL, Rahul is yet to hit the straps and has scored a fifty in seven innings. His average in the Asia Cup is 26.40. He had scored 132 runs in five innings.
But Gambhir, who had mentored Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL earlier this year, said the batsman should be allowed to play freely. Under Rahul’s leadership, LSG crashed out after losing to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 14 runs in the Eliminator.
“You don’t want your top-class players in that position, especially KL Rahul, who probably has more potential than Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli.” “Imagine KL Rahul going into the World Cup saying, ‘What if I don’t score runs against Pakistan? What if I find Virat Kohli’s place?’ You don’t want that. We should start thinking of how India can flourish, instead of a certain number of people.’
With both Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant in the squad going to Australia, there is also no clarity on the role of the designated wicketkeeper.
Karthik was preferred ahead of Pant in his Asia Cup opening match against Pakistan, but the left-hander made a comeback in Super 4 matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while both played against Afghanistan when captain Rohit Sharma sat out .
Actually, veteran Sunil Gavaskar has also talked about playing both the keeper-batsmen, but Gambhir did not agree with it.
“You can’t do that. If you do that, you will miss the sixth bowler and you will not go into the World Cup with five bowlers. You have to have backup.
He said, “Unless you throw out someone like Suryakumar Yadav, or KL Rahul has a bad tournament, and you can start batting with Rishabh Pant. Otherwise, I don’t see these two players in the middle order. ,” They said.
Gambhir further said that Karthik, who plays the role of a finisher, “showed no interest” in batting at higher positions.
“I’ve said this before, you don’t pick a T20 player just to play 10-12 balls. There’s no guarantee he’s going to win you a game. And Dinesh Karthik, unfortunately, didn’t show any interest. Batting in top-5.
“Your wicketkeeper should be able to bat in the top five and Rishabh Pant has the quality to bat at any number,” he added.
“I will definitely have Rishabh Pant in my batting order. I don’t believe in the notion that you need a left-handed batsman in the middle order. That is not the norm, especially in a side like India.
“The criterion should be – do you have the ability to win a game? 8, followed by three seamers,” he concluded.