"When KL Rahul becomes captain, his impact as a batter gets diminished" - Sanjay Manjrekar wants new skipper to learn from Virat Kohli
Sanjay Manjrekar has observed that KL Rahul's impact with the bat "diminishes" when he's captain. The former cricketer remarked on Friday that Rahul could learn how not to lose his natural batting style due to added responsibility from former skipper Virat Kohli.
Manjrekar's comments came in an interaction with ESPNcricinfo during the mid-innings break of the second ODI between India and South Africa. After opting to bat first, Rahul scored a 79-ball 55 with four boundaries, playing the anchor as Shikhar Dhawan (29 off 38) and Rishabh Pant (85 off 71) attacked from the other end.
Manjrekar didn't fault Rahul's approach in this innings but said he would like him to be more like Kohli in the future. He said:
"When he's a captain [for Punjab Kings] he has a strike rate of 133 and when he's not the captain 146. So this is KL Rahul, when he becomes captain, the impact that he makes as a batter gets diminished and that's something that hurts the team in the end and we have seen it hurt Punjab Kings in the IPL. Today, you could say with Rishabh Pant batting there and the kind of overall confidence that the Indian team currently has, he saw potential issues had he got out early, especially with Virat Kohli gone."
Manjrekar added:
"So I can understand the innings but going forward, I just want to see KL Rahul [be] the guy who makes an impact with the bat. Like Virat Kohli, for example, when he became the captain didn't lose Virat Kohli the batter who won him a lot of games. I want to see the same with KL Rahul."
In the same video, former Proteas batter Daryll Cullinan also said if India loses the match, he won't blame Rahul because he played according to the situation. He said:
"I thought he played the right sort of innings... Had he got out, you just quite not know because the thought at the back of mind would have been, 'Well, how good are we going to be in the middle-order?' For India, it was about occupying the crease... If India go on to lose this I won't point fingers at Rahuk's innings. One or two, in particularly, Dhawan's was a soft dismissal. That's where I would point the fingers."
That's a FIFTY for the Skipper.
This also brings up a 100-run partnership between @klrahul11 & @RishabhPant17 👏👏
Live - bcci.tv/events/47/indi… #SAvIND https://t.co/L6G8zH5Lbf
Rahul, though only a stand-in captain in limited-overs cricket, is currently the designated leader to succeed Rohit Sharma (T20Is and ODIs) and Kohli (in Tests) in the future. Both Rohit and Kohli's numbers have got better with the captaincy and if he's to take the reins from them, Rahul will be constantly judged by similar standards.
KL Rahul will have to find a way to ensure that nobody over-bowls: Sanjay Manjrekar
Innings Break!
Half-centuries from Rishabh Pant (85) & KL Rahul (55) propel #TeamIndia to a total of 287/6 on the board.
Scorecard - bcci.tv/events/47/indi… #SAvIND https://t.co/oZdNd9SFQi
India set a target of 288 for South Africa in Paarl. Looking ahead to the second innings, Manjrekar said the key to Rahul's captaincy will be "staying in the moment".
He remarked that like his counterpart, Temba Bavuma, Rahul will have to find a way to use his bowlers optimally. Manjrekar added:
"Staying in the moment is key, no long-term plans. Because that was the most impressive part of Bavuma's captaincy and how he used his bowlers optimally. Rahul didn't do that in the last game. A couple of his bowlers were being expensive but he completed their 10. Today Shamsi bowled as much as he should and even with Keshav Maharaj and Markam... So India [will have to] find a way to ensure that nobody over-bowls - if it's their day, they complete the 10 overs, if they are not bowling well then they don't bowl the full quota of 10."
India need to win this match to stay alive in the three-match ODI series.
You can catch the live coverage here.