Amid the criticism over KL Rahul’s form and batting approach leading up to the T20 World Cup 2022, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has come out in his defence saying that the opener was playing in the manner that the team expected him to in the three-match T20I series against Australia.
Questions were raised over Rahul's place in the side after he struggled to get going on his return from injury during the Asia Cup 2022. The right-hander looked rusty and managed to score only 132 runs in five matches at a strike rate of 122.
While Rahul showed glimpses of return to form with a 35-ball 55 in the first T20I against Australia at Mohali, he failed in the second and third games at Nagpur and Hyderabad, managing scores of 10 and 1.
"Well, he was doing what the team was expecting him to do which was both the times, you saw he got a fifty in the first game but in the second game, where he had to throw the bat from the first ball because it was an 8-overs-a-side game, he sacrificed his wicket for the team," Gavaskar told Star Sports after India sealed the T20I series 2-1.
"Similarly, the asking rate in the 3rd T20I match was more than 9 runs an over, it's never easy, you want to get off to a good start. He sacrificed his wicket over there. Again, like Kohli, when Rahul is playing proper cricketing shots, then he is unstoppable. But when these two players are trying to swing across the line, that is not their strength. They can play across the line when they come to the front foot and flick it that away but trying to play that cross-batter shot, they get into trouble. If they try to avoid that, they will keep scoring runs consistently," he added.
Team India will play three more T20Is against South Africa at home before heading to Australia for the T20 World Cup 2022. It is likely that Rahul will get more game time at the top in the upcoming series against South Africa, starting September 28 in Thiruvananthapuram.
