AUS v IND 2018-19: Sunil Gavaskar feels KL Rahul is trying to hit his way out of the bad patch

Rahul played some extravagant shots throughout his crucial 44 in the second innings at Adelaide.

It is KL Rahul's defensive technique that seems to have evade him | Getty

Whilst hopeful of Indian opening batsman's turnaround following the highly enterprising but vital 44 in India's second innings at Adelaide, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar is still concerned by how KL Rahul is perhaps "trying to hit his way out of" the bad run of form that he is going through.

Having taken a 15-run lead, India badly needed a good start. This is when KL Rahul started playing some breathtaking shots and put Australia's fearsome fast bowling attack off their usual lengths.

But was it the kind of knock that gives the right-hander enough confidence and brings him back on his feet at the highest level, remains a question.

"It did feel that he was trying to hit his way out of form. Even in the knock that he played at The Oval [England], that's the way he began his knock - by taking a swipe at anything outside off stump," Gavaskar told India  Today, "He did manage to spread the field because of that but one got a feeling that he was thinking to himself, I haven't been getting many runs, let's find a new way and so the attacking shots."

"In Test cricket, such a game where you are trying to hit everything in the air does not succeed very often," he reiterated.

Unlike what that outstanding 149 at the Oval did, Gavaskar hopes that this innings gives KL Rahul, who seems to have lost his basic defensive game, will get his lost mojo back at the International arena.

He said, "In the 44-run knock at Adelaide, he did leave quite a few deliveries alone. So did Murali Vijay, which was admirable. Vijay has been a good player," before emphasizing, "I hope Rahul will have a little more confidence in himself now after this 44. With Prithvi Shaw unlikely to be fit for the Perth Test, we should play with the same opening combination."

The great man also advised Murali Vijay and KL Rahul both to not go for that highly expensive and exaggerated cover drive outside the off-stump.

"One mistake that both the openers are making is going for the drive too far outside the off stump and not driving closer to the ball. There is always a threat there if the ball moves or bounces more. That's what they have to handle. In any case in Australia, it moves for the first 10-12 overs. After that it's all about how you handle the bounce," he signed off.

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 13 Dec, 2018

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