What’s the matter with KL Rahul, the benefactor of Abhishek Sharma and Ayush Mhatre? Keeping blunders non-negotiable

Delhi Capitals’ campaign is behind the eight ball. KL Rahul is one of the big reasons why the franchise doesn’t give much confidence this season too.

What’s the matter with KL Rahul? If you are a Delhi Capitals fan, more likely than not, this morning, your mind is puzzled.

Come on, KL! You need to do a lot more! (AFP)

It’s one thing if a batsman is out of form. That’s understandable. Happens to the best of them, but if you happen to be scoring runs but have no impact whatsoever, it’s far more serious than you can imagine. Which basically means, DC only have 10 players to look to for victories.

But it’s not just his batting that should be questioned. His wicketkeeping skills are equally worrying. On Tuesday night against Sunrisers Hyderabad, thanks to his sloppy work behind the wicket, Abhishek Sharma got a life on 49 and went on to make 135, pushing the visitors totally out of the contest.

This happened in the ninth over of the SRH innings: Abhishek flicked a ball off his pads and went for a two, but it was a miscalculation on his part. The fielder picked up the ball and threw to the striker’s end real quick. A simple run-out, that’s what it was! But then, to every Delhi fan’s dismay, Rahul couldn’t collect the ball. He couldn’t execute the simplest thing for a wicketkeeper!

Not for the first time, he did that. A few days against Chennai Super Kings, he had committed a similar thing, and Ayush Mhatre, the beneficiary of his generosity or ineptness, went on to score a fifty.

Leaving the team in the lurch often!

Now let’s discuss his batting. He has got two fifties so far. 92 against Gujarat Titans and 57 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Against GT, they were chasing 211 to win, and he should have finished the match, but then, Rahul being Rahul, that was too much to ask. If not for Miller’s efforts towards the end, Delhi would have lost the contest by a big margin. In a caveat, however, Miller, with the equation reading 2 off 2, had a brain fade and lost the match they shouldn’t have.

Anyway, the point is that being the biggest batsman in the side, Rahul is not batting at all in line with the labelling. Against RCB, with DC, chasing 176 to win, he started well, but then again, like the match against GT, he fell against the run of play, rather irresponsibly.

He could still be forgiven for not having the killer instinct with the bat, but the faux pas with the gloves is just not acceptable. If he did that in ODIs, he would be thrown out in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. The fact that an established player is likely to be continued with in the IPL despite poor performances is sometimes the reason they don’t strive too hard. This holds true for all teams.

DC should look into this as soon as possible. IPL can be very demanding with players constantly on the move. There is a possibility that Rahul wants to be relieved of his wicketkeeping role, or at least given a break now and then. If that is the case, DC need to find a solution. They need Rahul the batsman more than Rahul the wicketkeeper, since their batting doesn’t look very potent.

Finally, Rahul, on his part, needs to understand that he is thought of highly among Delhi Capitals fans. And they expect him to be the saviour of the team, to guide the team to their first IPL trophy. They are hoping, like Shreyas Iyer of Punjab Kings, he will breathe some life into a dormant franchise. Keeping those expectations in mind, he is not doing enough. That’s nothing but the truth.