Only a few weeks ago, criticism and social media trolling were common for KL Rahul. From being appointed as vice-captain of India’s Test team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to getting dropped from getting benched for the last two encounters, the Karnataka batter had enough ups and downs at his disposal recently. But the tables turned for the 30-year-old when his patient knock rescued India from a horrendous scenario in the first ODI against Australia in Mumbai.
Chasing a lowly 189-target, India’s top order was dismantled by Mitchell Starc and Marcus Stoinis. Reeling at 39/4 at one point, the hosts bounced back in the game to defeat the visitors by 5 wickets to go 1-0 up in the series. A majority of the credit goes to Rahul whose unbeaten 91-ball 75 laid the foundation of Australia’s defeat that looked a distant dream after the first 10 overs of the Indian innings.
Mohammad Shami, who was the pick of Indian bowlers, heaped praise on his teammates and stated that whatever happened in the past was just a phase and not only Rahul but every player goes through it in his career.
“We often talk about being under pressure or being in and out of form. But a player always thinks positive and tries his best for the team. He always thinks of playing a good innings or giving great starts. And we have seen him playing well for the team in the past,” Shami told reporters after India’s victory on Friday.
“But sometimes it happens that you run out of luck or have a tough day in the office. That’s a phase and a player goes through that. But there comes a time when you start playing your regular shots. And the way our batting collapsed, and it was good to see him that way under pressure,” he added.
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The right-arm India pacer, who returned with 6-2-17-3 on Friday, said it is important to clinch the momentum at the right time in venues like the Wankhede Stadium here.
“If you see overall then there have been high-scoring matches as well here. The pitches here have good bounce, the ball comes nicely on the bat too, (big) runs are also scored here at this venue,” Shami said.
“But if you would have noticed, whenever someone bowls in the right areas, (the course) of a match changes. It is all about when you are able to shift the momentum – early or late. That is what we pulled off today, once we got the momentum on our side after the 20th over, we capitalised on it and we were able to stop them at 188,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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