Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has expressed his surprise with the way KL Rahul performs. He has pointed out that when Rahul plays well, he scores hundreds irrespective of the format and when he loses his touch, there's absolutely no contribution from him.
Gambhir cited the examples of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who have small contributions even when they are out of form. He further slammed the Karnataka wicketkeeper-batsman that this is not what international is all about. Even though you might not get big runs on the day, there needs to be some contribution.
Gautam Gambhir told ESPNCricInfo, "It surprises me, when I look at KL Rahul. They are two completely different extremes. When he’s on a roll, he can give you back-to-back hundreds irrespective of T20 format or the 50-over format. But when he just completely looks out of it, there is nothing in the middle."
"Even if Virat and Rohit are out of form, they will keep contributing. But when you see KL Rahul, either it’s everything or nothing. That is not what international cricket is all about because You will not always get big scores, you will not always have those big hundreds or a 70 or an 80 in T20 but there needs to be some contribution," he added.
KL Rahul's last 4 T20I scores have been 0, 1, 0 and 0. However, Gambhir's criticism is not restricted to the ongoing T20I series between India and England but also in the ODI format.
He said, "I'm not talking about this series. That has been the template. Even when he got dropped from the Test side, that was exactly the template. Suddenly he will get a hundred and then suddenly there will be nothing after that. Even in the 50-over cricket, when he opened the batting, there was either a hundred or nothing."
"Then he was pushed into performing the dual role of being a wicketkeeper and a middle-order batsman where there's much less pressure. But in T20 format, he looks completely out of form," the 39-year-old added.
Gambhir acknowledged the fact that Rahul hasn't been out playing bad shots in the three T20Is against England but has been beaten by good deliveries.
"I don't like talking too much about form because T20 cricket can be very difficult for a batsman. Looking at these three deliveries, he has been beaten. Not that he played a bad shot," Gambhir concluded.
