Senior India batter KL Rahul has faced criticism for his recent inconsistencies with the bat, but Gautam Gambhir has backed the 30-year-old, saying that according to him, Rahul is “not under any kind of pressure”.
Gambhir was also critical of Venkatesh Prasad for the latter’s comments on Rahul. In February, Prasad had launched a scathing attack on KL Rahul, and had batted against his inclusion in the Indian Test team amid a poor run of form. Rahul endured scores of 20, 17 and 1 across the first two Tests against Australia, and was eventually dropped from the XI for the last two Tests, even losing his Test vice-captaincy role.
Also read: Venkatesh Prasad shoots down Aakash Chopra’s request for video chat over KL Rahul issue
Rahul, though, had a productive IPL season with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) last year, scoring 616 runs and helping them secure a place in the playoffs. LSG were eventually knocked out in the Eliminator, following a defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
“What kind of pressure? Last time we (Lucknow Super Giants) finished at No. 3 and it was a tough fight between RR and LSG. Obviously, only one team can lift the trophy. And Gujarat won the IPL, they played excellent cricket last season. And if you take a look at the performance of Lucknow in their debut season, they finished 3rd only because of the NRR. If you finish 2nd in IPL, you get 2 chances at the playoffs,” Gambhir, who is a global mentor for the Super Giants, was quoted as saying by SportsTak.
He then went onto explain how international cricket was different from the IPL. “As far as KL Rahul is concerned, I don’t think he is under any kind of pressure. International cricket and IPL are different from each other. If you don’t perform in international cricket despite scoring 1000 runs in IPL, you will still have to deal with criticism.
“And that’s international cricket for you. After all, only 15 players get a chance to play for India. In IPL, more than 150 players get selected. Thus, you should not compare these two (IPL and international cricket),” Gambhir continued.
Gambhir took a dig at Venkatesh Prasad, saying that sometimes ex-cricketers needed ‘masala’ to remain active.
“How Rahul has fared in the IPL, he has 4-5 centuries in the tournament. And you are talking about a player who has already slammed 4-5 centuries. Even last season he scored a century against Mumbai Indians. We have so many people here.
“Sometimes ex-cricketers need some masala to remain active. So that’s why you criticise people. According to me, the kind of player KL is, he won’t be under any kind of pressure. You can’t win a tournament with one player. The 25 players who are inside the dressing room help you win the tournament,” the 41-year-old added.
Rahul, though, was instrumental in the first ODI against Australia in Mumbai, scoring an unbeaten 75 and forging a 108-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja (45*) to help India chase down 189 with five wickets to spare. Rahul managed only nine runs in the second ODI in Vizag.
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