KL Rahul’s poor form with the bat had emerged as a point of huge concern for Indian team management. Rahul’s dreadful outing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia brought the Bengaluru-born’s spot in the national squad under the scanner. Rahul eventually managed to redeem himself by producing a match-winning knock against Australia in the opening ODI. Following his terrific performance, Indian cricket fans started celebrating Rahul’s much-needed turnaround. Team India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, however, seems to have a different take on this matter. Ashwin lashed out at KL Rahul’s critics stating that there was hardly ever any doubt over the wicketkeeper-batter’s performance in the fifty-over format. Ashwin said that Rahul had always been on song in the ODIs.
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“Immediately after his [KL Rahul’s] knock, people are like, “KL Rahul is back!” KL Rahul didn’t go anywhere when it comes to ODI cricket to be back. He didn’t go anywhere for us to put him down one day and then suddenly celebrate him the other day. We shouldn’t do that. In the sporting world, we should know how to assess a player’s performance correctly. If we don’t do that, we will back all the wrong people and will play all the wrong people,” Ravichandran Ashwin was heard saying on his official YouTube channel.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s statement comes just days after KL Rahul pulled off a sensational knock against the Aussies in the opening ODI in Mumbai. Rahul’s unbeaten knock of 75 guided Team India to an emphatic five-wicket triumph. The 30-year-old slammed seven boundaries and a solitary six to become the highest scorer for the Men in Blue in the fixture.
In his career, KL Rahul has scored 1,954 runs in 53 ODIs at an average of 45.44. Rahul has till now registered five centuries and 13 half centuries in this format. In Tests, Rahul was picked ahead of Shubman Gill to open alongside skipper Rohit Sharma in the first two games of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But KL Rahul managed to score just 38 runs over three innings in the first two fixtures against Australia, leading to the selectors dropping him from the final two contests. The wicketkeeper-batter has till now scored 2,642 runs after featuring in 47 Tests. Rahul has seven centuries and 13 half centuries to his name in the format.
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