KL Rahul will captain India in the upcoming T20I series against South Africa.
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif admitted that KL Rahul is a special player, but insisted that he is not in the league of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, saying they belong to a different league.
He further pointed out that Rahul scored runs on the pitches where Kohli and Rohit struggled, but his strike rate was a big cause of concern for him, as he highlighted his batting performance in the IPL tournament.
Rahul has been one of the most consistent run-scorers in the IPL, where he has scored more than 600 runs in the last four seasons, but his strike rate has been a cause for concern.
The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper was also impressive in the recently-concluded IPL 2022, where he amassed 616 runs with the help of two centuries and four fifties, but could not impress Latif.
Latif said on the YouTube Show 'Caught Behind: “Wasn't he playing for Punjab Kings before this? He used to bat till the 15th-18th over, while Glenn Maxwell hardly faced 2 balls. The team did not qualify. Gayle was even there but he played in the end. See, there is no doubt that KL Rahul is a fine player, and the pitches he played on and scored hundreds were the same where Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan struggled. Sometimes when an opener bats, he thinks it is his responsibility to bat through.”
He added, “Rahul is not like Rohit Sharma. Rohit and Kohli belong to a different league, but Rahul too is a special player. Having said that he needs to improve a little. He plays a few too many dot balls for his liking. Since the runs he scores are big, the balls faced a lot too. When he was playing for Punjab, I noticed the same.”