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Cricket Players‘Jab dusre khelte hai aur aap paani pila rahe hai…’: Gautam Gambhir says getting dropped 'should hurt’ KL Rahul
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir, who is also the mentor of LSG, the franchise KL Rahul leads in the IPL, said getting dropped from Indian T20I and Test sides should "hurt" the talented right-hander.
KL Rahul, pitted as the future captain in all formats, has not only lost his vice-captaincy but has also been replaced in India's T20 and Test XIs. Rahul's downfall has been rapid. It has been alarming. There are very few who will doubt Rahul's abilities but perhaps it's the weight of expectations that Rahul's talent brings, that has acted as a burden on the right-hander. After a disastrous T20 World Cup, he has not been named in any of India's T20 squads. He has lost his position as an opener in the ODIs. In the absence of Rishabh Pant, he is likely to take the gloves and bat in the middle-order in ODIs. He was stripped off his vice-captaincy and dropped from the third Test against Australia after a string of low scores in the longest format.
Rahul, who is unlikely to feature in India's XI in the fourth and final Test against Australia in Ahmedabad, took time out to be present in the jersey launch of Lucknow Super Giants, the franchise he leads in the IPL. The 30-year-old is certain to return to the Indian XI in the three-match ODI series against Australia starting March 17 but after that, he will have to use IPL 2023 as the launchpad of his turnaround in the other two formats.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir, who is also the mentor of LSG, said getting dropped from T20Is and Tests should "hurt" Rahul.
"These things happen to every cricketer. Name one cricketer who has scored runs with the same consistency from the start to the end. And these things are good for you. These things should hurt you. If it has hurt him then it is a great thing for us. Jab aap kisi aur ko khelte hue dekhte hai, jab aap pila rahe hote hai (When you see someone else play and you are running around as a 12th man with water) it should hurt you," Gambhir told Sports Tak.
Rahul has been a prolific scorer in the IPL. He has scored more than 600 runs in four of the last five seasons. The only exception was the 2019 season where he missed out by only 7 runs. But his strike rate, especially at the start of his innings, has been a cause of concern. Gambhir said, Rahul doesn't need to score 600 runs, it will be fine if he can score 400 runs at a good strike rate that helps his team win the tournament.
"And you don't need to prove it to anybody when you are leading a franchise. You have scored four-five hundreds in the IPL. But if you are not in the T20 side, not in the playing XI of the Test team then you can look at IPL as an isolated tournament or look at it as an opportunity to reinvent yourself. Can I bat the way the team wants me to and score the way entire nation expects of me? Scoring more than 600 runs in an IPL season is not important. Score 400 but those should impact your team's performance," he added.
