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‘You can’t bat that way. He's scared…': Sunil Gavaskar, Mark Waugh slam KL Rahul after another failure vs Australia
Talking about Rahul's problems with the bat, legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said the right-hander has a mental block and doesn't know whether to go forward or back. Mark Waugh said the India opener is ‘scared’ of getting out.
The question marks over KL Rahul's position in the Indian side grew bigger after he was dismissed for yet another low score in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. He was out LBW for 17 after failing to cope with a Nathan Lyon delivery on Day 2 of the Delhi Test. In the 18th over of the Indian innings, Lyon got one to drift and turn from around the wicket. Rahul was guilty of planting his front foot across instead of straight and he paid the price. The ball hit him on the knee roll and the umpire gave him out. He opted for DRS but the replays showed that the ball would have gone on to clip the leg stump, so the decision stayed.
After a good comeback in the England series and good outing in South Africa, Rahul's form has nosedived in Test cricket. The opener has been averaging just 17.4 in Tests since 2022 – which is the lowest by any Indian batter batting from 1 to 7 with a minimum of 100 runs scored. Rahul also has the 2nd lowest average by any opening batter in Tests since 2022. KL Rahul last scored a Test century in December 2021 against South Africa at Centurion. His last half-century also came in that series a week later.
Talking about Rahul's problems with the bat, legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said the right-hander has a mental block and doesn't know whether to go forward or back. He also explained the fault in his technique by giving the example of India captain Rohit Sharma.
Watch: Rohit left clueless, stumps rattled after being caught in ‘no man’s land'
"He doesn't know whether to go back or come forward. With KL Rahul, he takes his front foot across and the ball is turning into you, you have to play with a straight bat but when you take your front foot across like that you are left with no choice but to play with an angled bat. The chances of you missing the ball are more. Rohit takes the front foot away, so he allows the bat to come around and play the ball in front of the pad. That's why you see Rohit Sharma look so secure and why Rahul looks tentative," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Australia great Mark Waugh believed Rahul has a constant fear of getting out which restricts him from playing naturally.
"I think KL Rahul has just to back himself a little bit. He is scared of getting out. You cannot bat that way, you've got to be confident in your own ability. He is just restricting himself. I'd love to see him bat freely and not worry about getting out," Waugh said.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar also weighed in on Rahul's dismissal. "By aggression, I don't mean he defends three balls and looks to hit a six in the fourth. I want him to be able to bat freely like Virat Kohli starts looking from ones and twos from ball one. That's the way you become successful. You have to be proactive. When you are worried about getting out, your natural instincts get shackled," he said.
