Commentator-cum-cricket expert Harsha Bhogle has come out in defence of a struggling KL Rahul after the latter was trolled by a fan on social media recently. Rahul has had a forgettable outing in the ongoing five-match T20I series against England with scores of 1,0, & 0 respectively. Opening the innings on all three occasions, the white-ball specialist has failed to rediscover his rhythm with the bat and hardly managed to prolong his stay at the crease for more than one over.
‘He is just going through a lean patch’
It so happened that after Rahul had failed to trouble the scorers in the third T20I, a fan came forward and wrote that Team India’s white-ball specialist is the most over-rated batsman in the longest format of the game and when this came to Bhogle’s notice, he schooled the fan by saying that Rahul is an outstanding, genuinely world-class player who is just going through a lean patch as everyone does at some point.
What!! He is an outstanding, genuinely world class player. He is just going through a lean patch like everyone does at some point https://t.co/qhFOqyjZGJ
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 16, 2021
Even the netizens were on the same page with the versatile cricket pundit as well. Here are some of the reactions.
He will comeback 👍🏻
— 𝑱𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒚 ♡ (@243_virat) March 16, 2021
Just ignore these Harsha Sir!
— Aritram Dhar (@aritram_speaks) March 16, 2021
Need to show something what he does in practice session
— Harmeet Singh (@harmeet97410937) March 16, 2021
Poor guy,travels with squad for 3 months with no games. No respite from fans
— Static (@PorgeS_) March 16, 2021
KL is too good to be dropped. Age is on his side. Kishan, even if he performed well, will not be a first choice opener, ahead of KL, in a bigger stage like t20 wc as KL brings experience to the table. And also his versatility, he even can play down the order.
— 2 Slips and a Gully (@srikar_st) March 16, 2021
KL Rahul registers successive ducks in the ongoing series
The Karnataka cricketer hoped to regain the form that has eluded him for quite some time but that was not to be as he could only last for four deliveries in the third T20I at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad before being sent back to the dugout by a peach of a delivery from frontline pacer Mark Wood.
This happened in the third over of the first innings. On the third delivery, Wood bowled a fuller delivery around off stump as Lokesh Rahul attempted to drive down the ground i.e. supposedly attempting a straight drive. Nonetheless, there is no feet moment as the shot is attempted on the backfoot which ends up leaving a huge gap between the bat and pad.
The batsman misses the ball completely as it goes right through his defence and the center pole almost goes for a walk. Thus, Rahul ended up registering a second straight duck in this series.
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