KL Rahul stakes claim for top-order spot ahead of T20 World Cup

KL Rahul looks to score runs that’s par for the course and on many occasions he surpasses it. So far he has scored 1,138 runs off 777 balls at 8.79 an over.

Published : Dec 12, 2019 22:29 IST , MUMBAI

Rahul is back in the thick of things and must be a front-runner for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
Rahul is back in the thick of things and must be a front-runner for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
lightbox-info

Rahul is back in the thick of things and must be a front-runner for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.

The packed house at the Wankhede on Wednesday must have wondered why K.L. Rahul is in and out of Team India.

Someone who cut his teeth in international cricket five years ago with a 110 against Australia in his second Test in Sydney, ought to have established permanency in the national team.

As it happened|  Rahul, Kohli shine as India seals T20I series 2-1

Terrific outing

Rahul plays a brand of cricket that’s highly entertaining and excites everyone — in the stands as well as living rooms. On Wednesday, he was terrific, thundering his way to a 56-ball 91 with nine 4s and four 6s.

He has not played enough matches to be anywhere near the boundary aggregate of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli but is only second behind Kohli in the entertainment quotient index.

The Karnataka right-hander, who has the knack of scoring off any ball, seems to have a special liking for the Wankhede surface; last April he made an unbeaten 100 for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL.

READ|  Kohli, Rahul, Rohit shine as India seals T20I series 2-1

When asked whether the Wankhede wicket was better than Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram, he said: “I love playing here; any wicket that has pace and bounce is what all batsmen like.

“Wankhede is one such ground where we get to play our shots freely. And the crowd is amazing, electrifying. You just want to be out there in the middle and entertain them, so we love coming to the Wankhede.”

Rahul is back in the thick of things and must be a front-runner for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia. The team has a success rate of 67.65% when he plays (23/34) and 57.89% in the 19 he has not played.

The team management has backed him and he has come back strongly in the three-match series against the West Indies.

When he gets going, Rahul looks to score runs that’s par for the course and on many occasions he surpasses it. So far he has scored 1,138 runs off 777 balls at 8.79 an over.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment