IND v AUS 2020: KL Rahul is someone who I would pay to watch bat - Brian Lara picks his favorite Indian batsman
West Indies' highest run-scorer in international cricket, Brian Lara, has chosen KL Rahul as his favorite batsman in world cricket at the moment.
KL Rahul is the highest run-scorer in the ongoing T20I series between India and Australia. The right-handed opener has scored 81 runs in 2 innings.
Rahul was also the Orange Cap winner in the recently-concluded IPL 2020, where he amassed 670 runs at an average of 55.83.
Lara said that Rahul's artistry of using traditional cricket shots to score brisk runs in the shortest format makes him stand out.
In an interaction on 7Cricket, answering Ricky Ponting's question, Lara said:
That's easy, KL Rahul. If you are talking about the two teams that are playing, KL Rahul is definitely someone for me who I would pay to watch bat. I just love watching KL Rahul. Especially in the T20 version of the game, when you see a guy batting with the technique and ability to score runs with traditional batting shots, it's just exceptional to watch.
Ricky Ponting praises KL Rahul
KL Rahul made his debut against Australia in the 2014 Boxing Day Test match. Although Rahul didn't score much in that game, he made a brilliant comeback by scoring a patient hundred in the New Year's Test in Sydney.
Rahul didn't look back after that knock and became the fastest player to score centuries in all three formats in international cricket. He is now India's most established batsman in white-ball cricket, after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Ponting added to Lara's praise by commending his development from a Test specialist to a flamboyant T20 batsman. He said:
He is an interesting one for me because if you wind the clock back 2 or 3 years ago, he was probably more an out-and-out technically correct Test match batsman. But what he has been able to do with his T20 batting in the last two IPLs, has been absolutely unbelievable. He is turning himself now to be a better white-ball player than he is a Test match player and that doesn't happen very often.
After taking a 2-0 lead in the 3-match T20I series, India are currently taking on Australia in a dead rubber. The teams will next move on to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which includes 4 Tests, starting December 17 in Adelaide.