'Virat Kohli's energy was missing on ground' - Salman Butt unimpressed with KL Rahul's ordinary captaincy

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt has said that he didn’t see India’s stand-in skipper KL Rahul going out of the box tactically. India conceded 296/4 against South Africa after keeping them tottering at 68/3 at one stage. The surprising thing in the innings was debutant Venkatesh Iyer didn’t bowl a single over even when the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur conceded runs at an economy of more than six. Kumar and Thakur gave away 64 and 72 runs respectively in their full quota of overs. Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma (110) and Rassie van der Dussen (125) scored centuries and took the team to a winning position.

The Men In Blue went on to lose the game by 31 runs with only Shikhar Dhawan (79), Virat Kohli (51), and Thakur (50*) scoring half-centuries. None of the other batters could cross the 20-run mark. At one stage, they were cruising at 152/2 but Kohli was caught at short midwicket by Bavuma. This proved to be the turning point of the game as they were tottering at 214/8 at one stage. The unbeaten partnership of 51 runs between Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah salvaged some pride for the team. Thakur scored his first ODI fifty.

While reviewing the game, Butt said that the energy Virat Kohli brings on the ground was missing. He also said that KL Rahul lacked out-of-the-box thinking in the game.

“The energy that Virat keeps on the ground was missing today. It depends from person to person. When you give responsibility to someone, their vibe completely changes and vice-versa. But the energy you expect from a captain was missing today. I didn’t see anything out-of-the-box. You keep on trying and keep the opposition guessing; I didn’t see that in KL Rahul,” Butt said on his official YouTube channel.

India’s morale is down as they are missing Rohit Sharma: Salman Butt

The former Pakistan skipper feels that the Indian team’s morale is down as they are missing the services of Rohit Sharma. He added that the middle order doesn’t compete well which is a concern.

“India have world-class players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. They are top-class leaders. Of course, Rohit Sharma is not in the team at the moment. But the energy is missing here. The morale gets hurt. What if they lose the series? When was the last time India lost both series on the same tour?” Butt said.

“Only last year, two different teams won in England and Sri Lanka. Suddenly, even your middle-order doesn’t look complete because 1-2 players are missing. You need to think about it,” he concluded.