It Was Great To See KL Rahul Score A Half-Century: Shikhar Dhawan

Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan heaped high praise on stylish batsman KL Rahul for his brilliant knock in the first One-day International against England, stating that the 28-year-old will gain a lot of confidence from his match-winning innings.

KL Rahul endured a rough patch in the recent five-match T20I series against Eoin Morgan’s England.

Having not played competitive cricket for an extended period of time, Rahul clearly struggled for his rhythm and timing and eventually managed scores of 1,0,0 and 14 in his four outings.

The stylish batsman was eventually consigned to the bench in the series-decider in what was a tactical move as India opted for the inclusion of a seam-bowling option in T Natarajan.

Rahul was, however, reinstated in the team in the first ODI where he batted at the No.5 spot besides donning the wicket-keeping gloves.

The champion white-ball batsman has been a revelation for India ever since he started batting in the middle-order in 50-over cricket and on Tuesday, he played yet another gem of a knock and along with Krunal Pandya helped India recover from 5-202 to 5-317 in 50 overs.

Rahul smashed an unbeaten 43-ball 62 and backed it up with three catches behind the stumps.

Shikhar Dhawan, who scored 98 for which he was named as the ‘Player of the Match” hailed KL Rahul for his knock besides also stating that a champion player like him would have got stronger due to the failures he endured in the recent T20I series.

“It was great to see KL Rahul score a half-century. He’s a class player and we all love watching him play. Failures make champion players stronger. I’m sure he’s a much stronger player now. The way he came in today and helped us cross the 300-mark was great to watch. I am sure this knock will help him gain more confidence and we will watch him bat more fluently,” said Shikhar Dhawan in the post-match presentation.

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Watch the video here-

? It was good to see @klrahul11 score a half-century: @SDhawan25??#TeamIndia #INDvENG @paytm pic.twitter.com/JZZtnP6MB7

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 23, 2021