Aakash Chopra Heaps Praise On KL Rahul, Calls Him a ‘Complete Package’

Former Indian player Aakash Chopra lauded Indian opener, KL Rahul, for his performance in the second Test against England at Lord’s. On the back of Rahul’s scintillating century in tough batting conditions, India put up 364 runs on the board in the first innings.

He was well-measured in his stroke-play and stamped his class on Day 1 to etch his name onto the prestigious Lord’s honors board. Chopra reviewed the game in a video on his YouTube channel and praised Rahul for ‘protecting’ the Test.

“Who protected the match? We will definitely talk about KL Rahul there. He is just a complete package. India had lost the toss; England had taken the decision to bowl and the conditions were quite overcast, and they had four fast bowlers.”

“KL Rahul, at one point, had scored just 18 runs off 100 balls. He was part of a century partnership, for sure, but Rohit Sharma was the dominating partner and Rahul was just biding his time. He was continuously playing defensive, and in such a scenario, you get self-doubts that a good ball might come,” Chopra pointed out.

“England couldn’t breach his defense” – Aakash Chopra

Rahul took his time to assess the wicket and the conditions before playing his shots. Once he broke the shackles, there was no stopping him. There were plenty of glorious and picturesque off-drives but the part of his batting technique that kept him alive was his defense.

“You couldn’t breach his defence; he had such a good knowledge of his off stump that he was leaving deliveries, and not poking at something, but when Rohit got out, he started accelerating, and the quality of that knock went to another level.”

“So the first part was compact, technical and after that the range of shots. The driving he showed, on the up, through the off side, he played the cut and the pull. He even stepped out to hit a six,” the ex-cricketer turned commentator said.

It was Rahul’s sixth Test century and it followed his 84-run knock in the Test at Trent Bridge. With both Indian openers looking in fine form, the worry now shifts to the misfiring middle-order.

Also Read- India Will Win The Series 4-0 Or 3-1 as England is a ‘Two And A Half Men’ Kind of a Team, Reckons Sunil Gavaskar