ICC World Cup 2019: KL Rahul Needs to be a Versatile ODI Batsman, Says Sanjay Bangar

Indian National Cricket Team have made a stunning start to their ICC World Cup 2019 campaign beating South Africa and Australia in the opening two games. However, the finger injury to Shikhar Dhawan will force the management to tinker with their playing XI. The change will see KL Rahul slot to the top-order and batting at four in the first two games. Rahul will have to make certain adjustments to his game, and assistant coach Sanjay Bangar admitted that they want the Karnataka batsman to be a versatile ODI batsman and have the pedigree to adjust to various conditions.

Want versatility from Rahul: Bangar

Meanwhile, KL Rahul is yet to score big in this tournament. He has registered 26 against South Africa while managed to post an unbeaten 11 against Australia. Rahul will have to make adjustments to his game and forge an excellent opening partnership with Rohit Sharma when they face New Zealand at Trent Bridge. Trent Boult wreaked havoc when they played the Kiwis during the warm-up games and Rahul will have the job to see off the new ball.

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Sanjay Bangar, speaking on the challenges to open the innings said that they want KL Rahul to show versatility. He also drew examples of Rahul Dravid’s versatility as a keeper and a floater under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy which helped India maintain balance in ODIs.

“The advantages of playing in various situations is that you understand the game a lot better. If you are batting in the middle order and suddenly you go and bat in the top order, then you know how challenging it can be, wherein you need to negotiate two new balls but you also understand that there are all these boundary opportunities,” Bangar said.

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“So if a player is able to do that — and if you look across the history of the game, players have been very versatile, and here if you take (example of) his namesake Rahul Dravid back at the various positions, actually, it helped the team big time,” he added.

In conclusion, Sanjay Bangar said that if KL Rahul can show mental fortitude and make quick adjustments, it will be a dual advantage – the player builds his own reputation and also the team gains from his contribution.