Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour has backed KL Rahul despite his horror display of form in recent days. KL Rahul was the preferred opener for India in all the three T20Is played against England so far. After a successful IPL season, everyone expected Rahul to propel for India as well. However, to everyone’s surprise, Rahul has failed miserably to ply his trade against England in the on-going 5-match T20I series in Narendra Modi stadium.
IND vs ENG: KL Rahul’s Poor Form Against England Continues
Rahul has two ducks and a total score of 1 run in three T20Is. Rahul opened the batting with three different batsmen in three T20Is. Virat Kohli, however, handed KL Rahul the start in all three T20Is. KL Rahul has earned his place in India’s playing XI with his stellar form in white-ball cricket over the last few years.
28-year-old KL Rahul averaged 44 runs in T20I last year and had amassed a total of 400 runs in 11 games. The wicketkeeper-batsman was named the Player of the Series in the New Zealand T20Is. He was also the Orange Cap holder in IPL 2020 with 670 runs in the tournament and an average of 55.83.
IND vs ENG: KL Rahul Has Nothing To Worry About
However, Team India understands the importance of KL and a few bad innings won’t alter his position in the team. Batting coach Vikram Rathour went on to say that KL Rahul is the best T20I batsman in India’s squad and that every player can go through a rough patch in their career.
“Anybody can have a lean phase. Last one year, I think KL has been our best batsman in the T20 format. He’s averaging more than 40 with a strike rate of 145 (Rahul averaged 44.70 with a strike rate of 141.52 from January 2019 till the start of this series). So three failures does not change the fact, that he’s maybe the best batsman we have in that format, and he’s done really well for us in the past year.
“I think this is the time that, as a team, we need to support him. Absolutely sure he will come out of this lean phase that he’s going through,” Rathour said at the post-match press conference.
