Irfan Pathan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Sanjay Bangar heaped praise on KL Rahul after the Indian batter’s resilient knock during the Gabba Test. Rahul, who was promoted as the opener during the series, produced a solid knock in Brisbane as the rest of the Indian batting order crumbled around him.
Rahul looked solid on Day 3 as he played some delightful strokes and was also solid in defence and smart while leaving the ball as well. The opener took a couple of hits to the body and also had some luck going his way as he was dropped off the very first ball of Day 4. He would make the most of this chance and went on to complete his fifty in 85 balls. The opener looked set for a well-deserved hundred before Smith took a stunner to end his resistance.
Rahul scored 84 off 138 balls and hit 8 boundaries in his knock. Out of the 3212 runs he has scored in his Test career, Rahul has scored just 1149 runs at home and the rest has come outside India. Pathan would put a tweet to show Rahul’s importance in overseas conditions.
“If you need runs overseas please call @klrahul,” tweeted Pathan.
Pujara pointed out that Rahul showed that the Brisbane pitch wasn’t a tough track to bat on and it was all about seeing off the new ball.
“KL showed that if you apply yourself, if you bat well, it’s a good pitch where you can score runs. It’s not a very difficult pitch where you can’t survive or where you can’t bat. So, yeah, I mean it’s just about seeing through that new ball and KL showed that today,” said Pujara.
Bangar praised Rahul’s game plan at the Gabba and claimed he was the standout amongst batters in both the camps. Bangar also said that the rest of the Indian batters should try to imbibe Rahul’s qualities in their own game plan.
“He left a lot of deliveries outside off stump and making the bowlers do something different. He wasn’t really going towards the ball, and whenever he flashed hard outside that off-stump, he flashed hard. So, all in all, a terrific innings from him, and for me, I think he is the standout performer with the bat with both teams, because he’s been negotiating the new ball so well. His judgement outside off stump has been impeccable and his example should inspire the remaining Indian batters to sort of imbibbe these qualities in their own individual game plan,” said Bangar.
Rahul’s innings ensured that India were in a better spot heading into lunch on Day 4.
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