Former Indian cricketer, Aakash Chopra has made a claim that KL Rahul’s knock will play a crucial role in deciding the fate of the game between India and Pakistan in the Super Fours stage of the Asia Cup on Sunday. Pakistan booked their place in the Super Fours with a commanding win over Hong Kong on Friday to set up the mouthwatering clash between the arch-rivals on Sunday.
The first time both teams met in the Asia Cup this year, India won the game by five wickets owing to an all-round performance from Hardik Pandya. However, one of the cricketers who struggled on the day was KL Rahul. The latter has made a comeback to competitive cricket for quite some time due to an injury during the ODI series against Zimbabwe.
KL Rahul got off to the best of starts in the Asia Cup as he was cleaned up by Naseem Shah for a golden duck. Rahul then played uncharacteristic innings in the second game against Hong Kong, where he scored 36 runs from 38 balls and struggled to time the ball properly, and eventually received a lot of criticism from the fans.
Speaking on the Koo app, Aakash Chopra defended the Indian opener and said that people have a tendency to confuse his IPL numbers with the ones in international cricket. He went on to say that Rahul’s strike rate is high when playing in national colors and said that his innings will be crucial for India during their match against Pakistan on Sunday. Chopra also said that he hopes Rahul will have a good game in the first match of the Super Fours stage for India.
“People tend to confuse Rahul’s IPL numbers with his numbers for Team India. While playing for India, his strike-rate is really high. And I feel that Rahul’s knock will be key to India’s chances for the game against Pakistan on Sunday. Hope he has a good game. Fingers crossed,” said Aakash Chopra.
