India is not even considering the prospect of dropping KL Rahul after just two outings in the T20 World Cup, said India batting coach Vikram Rathour ahead of their Super 12 clash against South Africa in Perth on Sunday. More than the scores, the tentative manner in which Rahul has approached the innings at the top of the order, will keep the Indian team management concerned. But Rathour’s comments didn’t give away anything. He, in fact, confirmed that there was no chance of dropping the stylish right-hander.
Explaining the same during the pre-match press conference, Vikram Rathour said, “No. We aren’t really not thinking about that. I don’t think that’s a good enough sample size anyway. He’s been batting really well and also batted well in practice games. So we aren’t changing anything.”
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India doesn’t have any other designated opener in their squad for this World Cup but the likes of Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav have opened in T20Is before. While Pant is an absolute match-winner, it is difficult to fit in both Dinesh Karthik and Pant in the same playing XI. Also, with the team roping in Karthik for a specific role, there is no chance that the 37-year-old will be kept out of the playing XI.
While Vikram Rathour wanted to soften the blow but it was clear they are not even thinking about Pant. When asked about why Rahul is starting slow in the Powerplay compared to Rohit Sharma, he did admit that once he is back in form, things will change.
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Vikram Rathour elaborated, “Every player has his own way of playing and constituting their innings. A good partnership is one where each one complement the other. If Rahul is in good form then he can also be the aggressor. Not really. It depends on conditions and we pride ourselves on being a team that adapts to conditions. He (Kohli) is good enough to change his game as per conditions. He has done that brilliantly and we expect him to keep doing that.”
