Team India batter KL Rahul's disappointing form at the T20 World Cup continued in the game against South Africa on Sunday, as he was dismissed on a lowly 9 off 14 deliveries. Rahul has been going through a rough patch of late, and has failed to reach double figures in any of India's three matches in the tournament. In the first match against Pakistan, Rahul scored 4 before being dismissed by Naseem Shah in the second over of the match; against Netherlands, Rahul only scored 9.
The Indian batter has been facing criticism for his low scores from the cricket fraternity, and against South Africa in Perth, Rahul failed to find feet at any stage of the innings. The batter did hit a six in the third over, but failed to middle the delivery more often than not before handing a simple catch at first slip off Lungi Ngidi.
Rahul didn't score a single run off the first over against Wayne Parnell, and scored his first runs through a six on his eighth ball of the innings. During the fourth over, Ngidi dismissed both, Rohit Sharma and Rahul to put India under pressure straightaway.
As Rahul failed to deliver again, here's how Twitter reacted:
{{/usCountry}}As Rahul failed to deliver again, here's how Twitter reacted:
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, India had won the toss and opted to bat in Perth, but Rohit and Rahul's early wickets put the side in trouble. Moreover, Virat Kohli, who had scored unbeaten half-centuries in the first two matches, was also dismissed on 12.
Deepak Hooda, who had replaced Axar Patel for this game, conceded a soft dismissal without troubling the scorers, while all-rounder Hardik Pandya was dismsised courtesy of a brilliant catch by Kagiso Rabada at the fine leg boundary.
India are currently at the top of the group 2 in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup, but a loss to South Africa would bring them down to the second spot. Earlier today in Group 2 action, Pakistan had registered their first win of the edition against Netherlands, while Bangladesh also secured a dramatic three-run victory over Zimbabwe.