ICC T20 World Cup 2022: When It Comes To Being Tough On The Mental Front, He Doesn't Back Himself Up: Irfan Pathan On KL Rahul

In Thursday’s semifinal ongoing T20 World Cup match, India batsman KL Rahul’s awful batting performance against England continued. Rahul knocked two half-centuries against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe after receiving subpar scores of 4, 9, and 9 in the first three games.

However, the first batter struggled throughout the match against England, which needed to be won, and was out for 5 runs. Fans and even some former cricket players harshly criticized Rahul for his poor performance on social media.

In the semi-final match, England’s opening batsmen Jos Buttler (80*) and Alex Hales (86*) mocked the 169-run mark by leading their team to victory with ten wickets remaining in just 16 overs.

When given the opportunity to bat first, the team led by Rohit Sharma only scored 75 runs after losing three wickets in 12 overs.

Later, Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli took the initiative and drastically altered the game’s trajectory. Pandya hit 63 runs off only 33 balls, and Kohli added 50 runs off just 40 balls, bringing the total for the side to 168/6 after 20 overs.

Later, the Indian bowlers failed to claim a single wicket as Buttler and Hales amassed 169 runs in just 16 overs to chase down the target. Chris Jordan, who took three wickets for England, emerged as the team’s top bowler, while Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid both claimed one.

“KL Rahul has all the ability against both pace and spin”:  Irfan Pathan

Rahul was a big factor in India’s shaky start to the game and managed just 5 runs in the semi-final match against England.

This was nothing new for India because KL Rahul has already recorded single-digit scores three times for the squad during the World Cup in 2022.

KL Rahul’s half-century doesn’t represent much because they came against weaker opponents, as per former India star Irfan Pathan, who made a similar statement.

“He started badly. After that, when he scored two half-centuries, they definitely came against teams where you expect runs, I felt another half-century was about to come, the form is about to come. But this has been a problem with KL Rahul for a long time,” Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports.

Pathan claimed that Rahul lacks self-confidence, which negatively affects his performance when discussing the mental side of the game.

“When you watch him bat, you get the impression that he is technically excellent, but I get the impression that when it comes to being tough on the mental front, he doesn’t back himself up,” Pathan said.

“When he returns from injury, his initial movement is probably late, and both his feet were in the air here as well. If he wanted, he could have given himself room and played the cut shot.

“He has all the ability against both pace and spin, but if you are slightly soft at the top, it makes a huge impact on your cricket,” he concluded.

England will now be facing Pakistan in the final clash of the T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Also Read: ICC T20 World Cup 2022: 3 Indian Players Who Will Be Discarded From India’s T20 Squad After World Cup Exit