Former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik feels that Indian wicket-keeper batter KL Rahul was not attacking in his approach against Australia in the middle overs of the game, which hindered the team’s ability to set a challenging target at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
Although Rohit Sharma got off to a great start, with the Men in Blue losing wickets in no time, India’s final two batting prospects, Kohli and Rahul, appeared to take things gently on the treacherous wicket as they battled the well-organized Australian bowlers with caution not going for boundaries, as the two were unable to put pressure on the Australian bowling attack.
Speaking on A Sports, Shoaib Malik feels that KL Rahul has failed to play his normal game under pressure, being sluggish to get going in the middle, and said that he failed to rotate the strike playing numerous dot balls in his innings.
“He has been taking a lot of responsibility when India loses quick wickets up front. If you will see his today’s innings 66 off 107 balls, it was not a KL Rahul innings. He went into a zone, where he only wanted to play the whole fifty overs. He should have been a little more proactive.”
“When you are batting on tough conditions and you are not able to hit the boundaries, at least you rotate the strike. He has played a lot of dots ball,” Shoaib Malik said.
KL Rahul did everything he could to keep India out of trouble while Australia were dominating the middle overs of the game. At the Narendra Modi Stadium, the Australian pacers found the reverse swing on the dry face, and Rahul had to work hard to score just one boundary during his innings.
The Way Australia Placed Their Fielders Was Outstanding – Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Malik feels that the Indian team failed to play a counter-attack against Australia. He praised the Pat Cummins-led side for their impressive bowling performance and giving it their all on the field and lauded the Australian skipper for his brilliant bowling in the game.
“There was no counter-attack from the Indian side, but you got to praise the Australian bowling. The way they placed their fielders was outstanding. Cummins on his bowling puts three fielders on the leg side and used the bouncers nicely,” Shoaib Malik added.
Team India once endured a tough outing in the ICC final after suffering a loss by a margin of six wickets in the ICC World Cup 2023 final. Australian side looked superior in the game against the home-favourites India to win their Sixth ODI World Cup title.