IND Vs AFG: KL Rahul's Knock Shows India Are Not Reliant On Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma- Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir has expressed his belief that KL Rahul’s exceptional match-winning innings under pressure bodes well for India as they progress in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. In the tournament opener against Australia in Chennai on Sunday, October 8th, Australia set a target of 200 runs for the Men in Blue.

The Indian team faced a daunting situation as they were reduced to 2/3 early in their run chase. However, a resilient 165-run partnership between KL Rahul and Virat Kohli propelled India to a commanding six-wicket victory with 52 deliveries to spare.

During an appearance on the Star Sports show ‘Follow the Blues’, Gautam Gambhir was asked about his thoughts on KL Rahul’s performance. He responded by saying, “This is a good thing because you want your experienced batters to be able to handle pressure and along with that also score runs and take your team to a win.”

“So it is a good sign as you don’t want to be dependent on just two or three players. Since KL Rahul has returned, he has been in exceptional form and it is even better that he has handled pressure extremely well.”

Gautam Gambhir was also questioned about Virat Kohli’s performance, to which he replied, “Both have experience. If you talk about Virat Kohli, he has a lot of experience and you expect from your senior player that when he comes to bat under pressure, he takes the team out of the pressure situation and that is what Virat Kohli did.”

KL Rahul played an outstanding unbeaten innings of 97 runs from 115 deliveries, which included eight fours and two sixes. In contrast, Virat Kohli contributed 85 runs from 116 balls, featuring six boundaries.

Gautam Gambhir Praises India’s Bowling Performance

Gautam Gambhir lauded India’s bowling performance when asked about it, stating, “Exceptional bowling performance, the sort of start Jasprit Bumrah gave with his bowling, and then after that Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Ashwin. I believe this was the reason why Ashwin was played, all three spinners bowled exceptionally well.”

When questioned about how Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, and Shreyas Iyer could have approached the Australian pace attack differently, Gautam Gambhir suggested, “It could be nerves at times. It was the first World Cup match and the ball was also swinging and seaming a little. So I believe it could be early nerves but the good thing is that your nerves will be settled in the next match.”

Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, and Shreyas Iyer were all dismissed for ducks in the initial two overs of India’s run chase. While Kishan and Shreyas were dismissed while attempting ambitious drives, Rohit Sharma fell victim to an excellent delivery from Josh Hazlewood which nipped back in, trapping him in front of the stumps.

India will now face Afghanistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on 11th October at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in Delhi. Hopefully, the top order will come back in form and showcase their skills as India needs maximum momentum before facing Pakistan on 14th October in Ahmedabad.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill will not travel with the team to Delhi and he will be under the medical team’s supervision, he can also miss the India Vs Pakistan clash. So Ishan Kishan will have to prove himself as an opener against Afghanistan. India will hope for a speedy recovery for the young lad who has been in red-hot form this year.