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'Gilchrist did that, De Kock still does it. Is KL Rahul not fit enough?': Ex-Pakistan captain tears into Team India star
The former Pakistan captain lashed out at KL Rahul following India's close defeat against Bangladesh in the second ODI of the three-match series.
Team India faced a close defeat to Bangladesh in the second ODI of the series in Dhaka, thus conceding a series loss. Chasing a 272-run target, India were reduced to 65/4 at one stage but Shreyas Iyer (82) forged a brilliant 107-run stand alongside Axar Patel (56) to bring India back in the game. Following a series of quick wickets following the partnership, India captain Rohit Sharma braved a thumb injury to help the side's cause and almost steered the side to a memorable win; however, India eventually fell short by five runs as Rohit failed to hit a maximum off the final delivery of the match.
In Rohit's absence earlier in the innings, Virat Kohli opened the batting alongside Shikhar Dhawan but both batters failed to make a mark; while Kohli was dismissed on 5, Dhawan was the next batter to fall (8). Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt believes that KL Rahul – who was the stand-in skipper in place of Rohit in the game – should have opened for the side, since he had been a specialist opener for the Indian team in the shortest format of the game.
Additionally, Rahul has also opened for the team in certain ODIs throughout his career.
“Rohit Sharma ko injury hui, toh obviously Virat Kohli ne open kiya. Aapke paas KL Rahul regular opener hain, vo kyun nahi gaye open karne? Ispe behes ye hogi ki unhone wicketkeeping ki hui thi. Duniya me bohot saare players hain jo wicketkeeping ke saath open karte hain. Adam Gilchrist karte hain, Kumar Sangakkara karte rahe, Quinton de Kock karte hain, kya ye utne fit nahi hain? Ajeeb si baat hai. (Rohit Sharma got injured and Virat Kohli opened. But you have a regular opener in KL Rahul, why did he not open? Some will argue that Rahul had kept wickets, but there have been a lot of players who have opened for the side after keeping wickets, like Gilchrist, Sangakkara and Quinton de Kock. Is Rahul not as fit as them? It's very weird),” Butt said on his official YouTube channel.
“There's something wrong with the thought process or the role definition. Cheezein settled nahi hain. Aisa lagta hai ki practice chal rahi hai,” the former Pakistan captain further added.
Rahul, who had scored an important 73 in the first ODI of the series, stuck to his number 5 role in the second game; however, he was dismissed on 14 off 28 deliveries.
