"Showed us glimpses of the old Kamaal Lajawab" - Aakash Chopra lauds KL Rahul's knock in 1st IND vs AUS ODI
Aakash Chopra has lauded KL Rahul for playing a match-winning knock in the first ODI between India and Australia at the Wankhede in Mumbai on Friday (March 17).
The Men in Blue bowled out Steve Smith and Co. for 188 after asking them to bat first. Rahul then scored an unbeaten 75 off 91 as the hosts chased down the target with five wickets and 61 deliveries to spare to make a winning start in the three-match series.
While reflecting on India's chase in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra showered praise on KL Rahul, elaborating:
"Form is temporary; class is permanent. You will consider this knock special because when conditions are difficult and wickets are falling regularly at the other end, you have to play cautiously and score runs as well. He accelerated as well after his fifty and showed us glimpses of the old Kamaal Lajawab."
The former Indian opener pointed out that Mitchell Starc's penetrative spell had given Australia the upper hand at the start of India's innings, observing:
"Wickets fell in the run chase at the start, not one but one after the other. Mitchell Starc has taken six ODI wickets in India, and all six have come at the Wankhede Stadium. He was breathing fire."
Chopra highlighted that the hosts lost Ishan Kishan and Virat Kohli's wickets early in their chase:
"Ishan Kishan was the first to be dismissed. He didn't fall prey to Starc, he was lbw off Stoinis' bowling. After that, Kohli came and went. This was the first time Starc dismissed him in an ODI."
Kishan was trapped plumb in front of the wicket by Marcus Stoinis after scoring just three. Kohli managed only four before falling leg before wicket to Starc.
"The problems became grave when Shubman Gill got out" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra pointed out that India were in dire straits when Shubman Gill was dismissed, reducing India to 39-4:
"Then Suryakumar came and was struck on the pads while standing right back in his crease. The problems became grave when Shubman Gill got out because India were four down for 39. At that stage, it seemed to chase 188 was like climbing Mount Everest."
While observing that Hardik Pandya would be disappointed about throwing his wicket away after a decent partnership with Rahul, Chopra praised the latter and Ravindra Jadeja (45* off 69) for taking India home:
"There Hardik Pandya played a short knock. He will be disappointed as well with the way he got out because a partnership was getting built between him and KL Rahul. India were 83/5 and still needed 106 runs. Then, Jaddu and Rahul - an unbroken partnership."
Jadeja joined Rahul in the middle when India seemed to be in a spot of bother at 83-5. The duo strung together an unbroken 108-run sixth-wicket partnership to ensure the hosts got across the line.