With Shreyas Iyer, I Thought He Would Bat At Least Two Overs: KL Rahul On India's Collapse Against Australia

KL Rahul has admitted that even he was stunned by India’s disastrous start in their first 2023 World Cup game against Australia. India and Australia locked horns against each other on Sunday (October 8) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Batting first, Australia were all out for a modest total of 199 on a slow and spinning pitch. They were well placed at 110 for 2 at one stage before Ravindra Jadeja turned the game on its head by taking three wickets in quick succession and reducing Australia to 119 for 5. Australia just could not recover from those setbacks and huffed and puffed their way to 199.

In reply, India made a disastrous start. Openers Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma as well and Shreyas Iyer failed to open their accounts and India found themselves 3 down for just 2 runs inside 2 overs. However, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli went on to share a 165-run stand to seal the game for the hosts. KL Rahul remained unbeaten on 97 while Kohli was out for 85.

KL Rahul on India’s collapse:

In a recent video posted by BCCI on their social media handles, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli talked about their partnership against Australia. And during the conversation, the wicketkeeper-batsman revealed that he was not at all expecting such a bizarre start to India’s chase.

KL Rahul said that while top-order collapses do happen, he did not expect India to lose as many as three wickets inside 2 overs. The right-handed batsman, who was adjudged the Player of the Match, also said that he was expecting Shreyas Iyer to bat at least two overs.

“I never expected it. You do lose a couple of wickets when the ball is doing something. But not like that. It still takes four or five overs, not 1.5 or two overs. I just came and sat when I came out of the shower. When Ishan got out, I rushed to get taped and started wearing my pads. Then Rohit got out, Shreyas too. With Shreyas, I thought he would bat at least two overs. But he was out on the first or second ball,” said KL Rahul.

They both got #TeamIndia the first win of #CWC23 ?

As the bandwagon moves to Delhi, here's @imVkohli & @klrahul dissecting their match-winning partnership against Australia ?

P.S. The local lad is bracing himself for his homecoming ?️

Watch the full interview ? ?… pic.twitter.com/HSXYovY43T

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 9, 2023

India’s top-order will be looking to bounce back in the upcoming game against Afghanistan. The match is scheduled to take place in Delhi on Wednesday (October 11).