Rahul slammed his eighth ODI century against New Zealand in Rajkot on Wednesday.
KL Rahul is going from strength to strength as a middle-order batter in ODIs. On Wednesday (January 14), he slammed his eighth ODI century against New Zealand in Rajkot while batting at the No. 5 slot.
The wicketkeeper-batter walked in when the hosts were struggling at 115/3 and soon slumped to 118/4 with in-form Virat Kohli being dismissed for 23. However, Rahul carried on for almost 30 overs, finishing with an unbeaten 112 off 92 balls.
His innings, studded with 12 fours and one six, propelled India to a competitive 284/7 in 50 overs.
Impressed with Rahul’s exploits, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar once again touched upon the talent versus output debate. While praising the Karantaka batter, the former cricketer-turned-commentator went on to call him an “underachiever”.
“Look, I’ve always thought that maybe, and I could be wrong, with all the talent that he’s had, he’s probably been a little bit of an underachiever,” Gavaskar said while speaking during the mid-innings show on Star Sports.
“But now I think he’s coming to that, you know, space as maybe Doulie (Simom Doull) is saying, when he now, you know, has that much more confidence in himself. And therefore he’s now showing them, showing the range of shots, showing the temperament,” he added.
Gavaskar’s accolade for Rahul moved beyond numbers as he highlighted the elegance in latter’s batting.
“It is a delight to watch him, and he’s got the elegance as well. I mean, when somebody’s got the elegance when he plays the shots, that is that adds just to the visual pleasure,” Gavaskar remarked.
It is worth mentioning here that KL Rahul played a pivotal role in India’s tense four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the ODI series opener at Vadodara on Sunday (January 11).
Chasing 301 to win, the Men in Blue found themselves in a spot of bother at 242/5 when all-rounder Harshit Rana joined Rahul at the crease. Rahul played cautiously, contributing to a 37-run stand with Rana, who scored the bulk of the runs.
After Rana’s dismissal, Rahul stitched a 27-run partnership with Washington Sundar. He took most of the scoring responsibilities, hitting consecutive boundaries and a six in the last three balls of the penultimate over to take India home with an unbeaten 29 off 21 balls.