Cricketer-turned-commentator Maninder Singh expressed his views on KL Rahul’s poor form in recent times and said that he needs to come out of his shell. The former left-arm spinner also said that India need to look ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the bowling department.
KL Rahul has not been able to play in his freewheeling style in international games that is often at display in the IPL. Maninder believes that he has gone into a shell after his injury and someone needs to talk to him and bring him out of that shell.
“As far as KL Rahul is concerned, a lot of talking needs to be done to him. He seems to have gone into a shell after the injury when he started playing the Zimbabwe series. He has to come out of that shell, because we know what kind of a cricketer he is, and we know about his class,” Maninder said in a media interaction ahead of India’s tour to Bangladesh.
Rohit Sharma-led India will play three ODIs and two Tests against their eastern neighbours. Rahul will serve as his deputy.
“If he goes into a shell and thinks that first five-six overs I will try to stay and then I will start hitting, that’s too many overs being taken even in ODIs. You need to take advantage in first 10 overs (powerplay) and if you play five overs like that, it will be wasted. He needs to be told that the fearless approach he used to have is very necessary in T20I and ODIs,” Maninder added.
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However, he does not believe that Rahul is blocking a place in the playing XI considering his position as vice-captain.
“The times we are in, you will be dropped if you do not perform well, even if you are the vice-captain. I don’t see a problem there that he is blocking a place but he is a very talented cricketer and he has to rediscover himself.”
Maninder also vouched for Shubman Gill and expressed that he should be given a longer rope in all the formats.
“Shubman Gill has done well in any kind of cricket he has played. He has done well in T20 cricket and also, in IPL. I am surprised that he is not playing T20 cricket (internationals).
“In ODIs, he has done wonderfully well. He looks a different player, I see a different class in him as compared to other players. He is somebody we need to give confidence to in all kinds of cricket. In white-ball cricket, you can open with him, and in Test cricket, you can play him at number 3 or number 5, wherever the coaches think he is fit.”
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been India’s highest ranked men T20i bowler since the last 484 days.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 24, 2022
Meanwhile, talking about the pace attack, the commentator said that India should look at the young crop of fast bowlers. He opined that Bhuvneshwar should not be given a longer stint.
“Even in T20I Cricket, we need to look forward (ahead of Bhuvneshwar). We have got quite a few youngsters doing well in IPL and I am sure they are doing well for their First-Class teams as well. So time to look ahead.
“If you think of a long time ahead with Bhuvneshwar, I don’t get the confidence in him. He is a fantastic bowler, he can swing the ball, but he has not performed well in pressure situations.
“So I would like to go forward with youngsters. There are quite a few in this team like Kuldeep Sen. I don’t know what is going on with Prasiddh Krishna, is he injured or what. Mohammed Siraj has got a fantastic attitude. He gets over excited sometimes, but the coaches have to handle that.”
Notably, Maninder has applied for a position in the senior selection committee.
Watch the LIVE coverage of Bangladesh vs India – 1st ODI on SONY SPORTS TEN 5 (English) SONY SPORTS TEN 3 (Hindi) & SONY SPORTS TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels on 4th December 2022 from 12:30 PM.
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