Brian Lara terms KL Rahul most technically gifted batsman

Team India was dealt with a huge blow after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the action due to a thumb injury. He was hit on his thumb by Pat Cummins in the game against Australia and then didn’t come out to field in the second innings. The hairline fracture led to the southpaw missing some crucial games in the ongoing World Cup and the onus has now fallen on KL Rahul to open the innings along with Rohit Sharma.

Rahul is yet to stamp his authority as an opener having scored only against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. He did open the innings against England during the home series in 2017 but couldn’t score big and returned with the scores of 5 and 11. This is a great chance for him to prove his mettle at the top of the order. Moreover, the fact that the legendary Windies cricketer Brian Lara backing him to the hilt should also increase KL Rahul’s confidence.

Rahul can repair the damage

Brian Lara, in his column for Sportstar, lamented Shikhar Dhawan’s loss due to an injury but backed KL Rahul to come good. He feels that the talented batsman is technically gifted amongst all in India’s line-up and also went on to add that Rahul can build the innings in case of a collapse.

“It’s sad to see that Shikhar Dhawan is out with an injury. With him in the team, you had a strong No.4 in K.L Rahul. In my opinion, Rahul is the most technically-gifted batsman in the Indian team. In the event of a top-order collapse, Rahul can repair the damage,” Lara wrote.

The 50-year-old was also in awe of India’s batting line-up while adding that there is no weakness in the Indian team at the moment. “If I’m in the opposition team meeting, I would say, “My gosh! India’s batting problems start only at No.8”. In most cases, it is the batsmen who turn out to be match-winners. If not, you can always count on the fantastic Indian bowling attack to defend any target. These are early days in the World Cup, but I am yet to see any weakness in the Indian team,” he further added.