The Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has come in defense of KL Rahul whose form has been pretty up and down and it has been a major concern as Rohit Sharma-led Indian side in the T20 World Cup 2022. The opening batter has managed to score 9, 9, and 4 runs in the last three matches. However, he did score a fifty against Australia in a warm-up match in Brisbane. He preceded this with a scintillating 74 against Western Australia.
On the eve of the game against Bangladesh, Rahul Dravid said, “I think he (KL Rahul) has a proven track record. And these things happen. It has been a tough tournament for a top-order batsman. I thought he was superb in the, maybe a lot of you weren’t there, in the practice game against Australia. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins… It was a pretty good attack. He has got a great all-around game, he is got a great back-foot game. Which is very much required in these conditions.”
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Earlier, even Vikram Rathour had come in support of Rahul in the pre-match press conference against South Africa. Furthermore, the head coach revealed he has not the slightest doubt who would be opening for India in the tournament.
Rahul Dravid said, “In these conditions, we are able to afford him sometime. We are completely backing him and we have no concerns at all. When he gets going, and I have seen that against a top-class attack against Australia, I know this guy will make an impact. So, in Rohit and my mind there is absolutely no doubt ‘who’s gonna open for us.'”
When asked by a reporter if the team management, especially Rahul Dravid, feels difficult backing out of form players like KL Rahul, he replied in a firm negative. Moreover, he also went on to cite a certain culture in Indian cricket.
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The Indian head coach explained, “It’s not difficult at all for us. We have certain ideas and beliefs about a certain player. And we know there is a certain culture in Indian cricket…where people ask ‘if Kohli scores the runs, then who’s the next guy (to target and talk about)…ok KL Rahul, if Rahul scores the runs, then who is the next guy.’ We have picked 15, but we can play only 11, we know their quality and we know they might not deliver for us. That doesn’t make them bad players.”
