India captain Kapil Dev has now opened up on the performances of Rohit, Kohli, and Rahul, who are currently India's first-choice top-3 batters in T20Is. This comes ahead of India’s upcoming five-T20I series against South Africa which begins from June 9 onwards in Delhi.
KL Rahul will be captaining the Indian team in absence of Rohit Sharma, who had been rested for the series along with senior players like Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammad Shami amongst others.
Rohit and Kohli failed to come good with the bat in the recent IPL 2022, as Kohli made three golden ducks and Rohit failed to make a single half-century in the tournament.
Rahul, on the other hand, was amazing with the bat for Lucknow Super Giants, guiding them to the playoffs and making 616 runs with two centuries in 15 matches. But his batting was criticized for his strike rate in some matches.
Kapil Dev, on the YouTube channel Uncut, slammed the trio for their poor starts with the bat.
“They have a big reputation and there's huge pressure on them, which shouldn't be the case. You have to play fearless cricket. All of these are players who can hit at a strike rate of 150-160. When you need them to score runs, they all get out. When it is time to take off (in the innings), they are out. And that adds to pressure. Either you play an anchor or you play striker,” Kapil Dev said.
“When you talk about KL Rahul, if the team tells him to play the entire 20 overs and you come back with a score of, say 60 not out, you're not doing justice to your team. I think the approach needs to change. And if it doesn't, you have to change the players. A big player is expected to make a big impact. Having a big reputation is not enough, you also have to deliver great performances,” he said.
