Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels that KL Rahul’s form with the bat augurs well for the Indian team going forward in the ODI World Cup 2023 at home. Rohit Sharma-led side survived the scare to win the opening game by six wickets against Australia in Chennai.
After a shaky start for India in which the hosts lost Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer without scoring, KL Rahul delivered a punch by scoring valiant 97 runs and Virat Kohli scored 85 in a crucial match. The Indian wicketkeeper-batter maintained excellent composure and formed a crucial partnership with Virat Kohli to lead India to an unforgettable victory.
Speaking to India Today, Sunil Gavaskar praised India’s comeback, describing it as extraordinary, and feels that their confidence will soar following this emphatic victory over the five-time championship. India successfully completed the chase with 52 balls remaining in the game.
“What India has shown is that they can recover even with backs on their wall. The fightback that we saw was the most impressive. It was a total all-rounder performance, a very good performance by India. The confidence level will go up. So other teams will have to watch out,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, and Shreyas Iyer’s early dismissals did give India a scare, but the amazing recovery led by Virat Kohli (85) and KL Rahul summed up the dominance India had over the Australians throughout the game.
We’ve All Known The Ability And Talent That KL Rahul Has – Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar continued by saying that the way KL Rahul is currently batting truly portends well for India for the remainder of the tournament and insisted that he did not step wrong in Chennai. The wicket-keeper batter smashed eight boundaries and two sixes on his way to an undefeated 97 off 115 balls.
“Virat’s experience was needed and we must not forget Rahul’s innings as well. Rahul scored 97 not out and did not put a foot wrong. Kohli had a bit of luck when that easy catch was dropped. So good to see the way he is playing.
“We’ve all known the ability and talent that he has. The way he’s batting right now really augers well for India for the rest of the tournament. You have someone coming in at number 5 who can hold the innings together,” Sunil Gavaskar added.
Virat Kohli was lucky in the early part of the innings, as he was dropped by Mitchell Marsh of Josh Hazelwood’s bowling and it turned the fortunes for the Men in Blue in the game. With KL Rahul and Virat Kohli showing excellent temperament in the middle overs of the game to finish things for the Men in Blue in their opening fixture.