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‘He is someone who will contribute in all formats’: Sourav Ganguly backs India’s top order batsman to excel in Australia
India vs Australia: Sourav Ganguly, president of the BCCI, has backed the batsman to do well against Australia and believes he has what it takes excel in all formats.
India’s tour of Australia is approximately three weeks away and the stakes could not be higher. The Virat Kohli-led Indian team would be hoping to dish out impressive performances if they are to claim back-to-back Test series wins in Australia, although this time around it will be a different challenge altogether with the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, who were not part of the 2018/19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy which India won.
India’s batting has always been up for a stern test in Australia and even though the last time around, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant got centuries, despite winning, the batting left plenty more to desire. This series, in the absence of Rohit Sharma, one cricketer who would be looking to prove his detractors wrong is KL Rahul. Rahul is returning to the Test squad for the first time since August last year and with a string of poor performances in Test matches, the opening batsman would be keen to make amends in a tough series.
Sourav Ganguly, president of the BCCI, however, has backed Rahul to do well against Australia. Rahul has been in prolific form in limited-overs formats and Ganguly feels the batsman has what it takes to succeed in all three formats of the game.
“I have a lot of time for KL Rahul in Test matches and I am saying that as a cricketer. But, at the end of the day, it is the selector that decides who plays and who doesn’t play,” Ganguly said on India Today’s programme ‘Inspiration’. “Just as somebody who has played the game, I feel he (Rahul) is someone, who will contribute in all forms of the game. I wish him all the luck. Hopefully, he contributes to the winning cause of India which is important.”
The series is being billed as India’s batsmen vs Australia’s bowlers, but Ganguly reckoned Virat Kohli’s team has the bowling attack that is more than capable of taking 20 wickets, which can be a big factor in the way the series shapes up.
“India has the attack, it’s about Virat working with them and getting them to be at their best. It’s for him to decide as captain whom he wants to attack with and which stage he wants to attack with - whether it’s an Ashwin or a Bumrah or Saini, or Sharma or Jadeja. It’s his captaincy skills,” Ganguly added.
