Ravi Shastri praises 'most improved' KL Rahul

The Karnataka batsman failed to make it to the ODI squad against South Africa. However, the Indian coach feels that KL Rahul has been one of the most improved players in the recent past. His contribution in the recently concluded T20 series has been immense. Rahul did not have a good ODI tour in Sri Lanka earlier this year and the form of the other openers didn’t help his cause.

He scored 154 runs in the T20I series against Sri Lanka which made him the second highest run-getter of the series. He was only behind his captain Rohit Sharma who scored a brilliant hundred in Indore. Rahul has not played an ODI since August 31 with Rohit, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane preferred as the openers for the team. The 25-year-old has played only 10 ODIs so far and has a mediocre average of 35.43 which is certainly much below his standards.

The headache

“A big headache for us (with the top order doing well). He (Rahul) is a class player, he has got time. He plays the quicks well. He has got all the shots. Like I have said time and again, if you look at the last 18 to 20 months, for me, he is one of the most improved players in world cricket. It was good to see the way he came back and struck the ball,” Shastri said while talking to Sanjay Manjrekar in the post-match interview.

This is the kind of appreciation that boosts a player’s confidence in tough times. He will be hoping for a call-up soon in the ODI setup. Rahul must not lose focus and continue to deliver in the other formats which may eventually force the selectors to consider him for the 50-over squad as well.

The Indian team has had a golden year and several players have cemented their place into the squad. The pool of players is so big that a couple of bad performances can remove your name from the eleven. However, Rahul continues to be a integral part of the Test setup as reflected by his average of 44.62 in 21 innings. With time on his side, he is set for a promising career. The Indian team will begin overseas journey in South Africa starting January 5.