Gautam Gambhir baffled at "two extremes" of KL Rahul's batting form
Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir is baffled by the "two extremes" in KL Rahul's batting form. Gambhir opined that KL Rahul either notches a string of good scores or conjures negligible contributions, adding that such a pattern isn't worthy of international cricket.
Interacting with ESPNcricinfo, Gautam Gambhir cited the examples of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to weigh in on how good players contribute even during their poor form.
"It surprises me when I look at KL Rahul. They are two completely different extremes. When he’s on a roll, he can give you back-to-back hundreds irrespective of the T20 format or the 50-over format. But when he just completely looks out of it, there is nothing in the middle.
"Even if Virat and Rohit are out of form, they will keep contributing. But when you see KL Rahul, either it’s everything or nothing. That is not what international cricket is all about because you will not always get big scores, you will not always have those big hundreds or a 70 or an 80 in T20 but there needs to be some contribution," said Gautam Gambhir.
India's best-ranked T20I batter, KL Rahul, is amidst a lean patch in the shortest format. He has recorded scores of 0,1 and 0 in the three T20Is of the ongoing series against England. With the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Ishan Kishan breathing down his neck for the opening spot, the pressure on him is sky-high.
"Even when KL Rahul got dropped from the Test side, that was exactly the template" - Gautam Gambhir
Expanding further on the matter, Gautam Gambhir said that KL Rahul's form followed a similar template when he was dropped from the Test side in 2020.
"I'm not talking about this series. That has been the template. Even when he got dropped from the Test side, that was exactly the template. Suddenly he will get a hundred and then suddenly there will be nothing after that. Even in the 50-over cricket, when he opened the batting, there was either a hundred or nothing," explained Gautam Gambhir.
"Then he was pushed into performing the dual role of being a wicketkeeper and a middle-order batsman where there's much less pressure. But in the T20 format, he looks completely out of form. I don't like talking too much about form because T20 cricket can be very difficult for a batsman. Looking at these three deliveries, he has been beaten. Not that he played a bad shot," concluded the southpaw.
It will be interesting to see if India back KL Rahul in the 4th T20I against England, which will begin at 7 pm IST on March 18.