T20 World Cup 2022: “We are too critical of our players” - Robin Uthappa backs KL Rahul amid criticism over failure in big games 

Former India batter Robin Uthappa has termed the criticism of opener KL Rahul over his failure in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final as unfair. According to the 37-year-old, Indian fans and critics are too harsh on players, which is not the right thing to do.

Rahul has received a lot of flak for his below-par performances against top teams during India’s T20 World Cup 2022 campaign in Australia. While the opening batter registered half-centuries against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, he was dismissed for single-figure scores against Pakistan and South Africa. Even in the semi-final against England, he managed only five runs.

Asked if the experienced batter's failure against big teams is a cause for concern, Uthappa told Sportskeeda:

“Before this match, I was asked why Hardik Pandya’s form is bad, why he isn’t performing. We read too much into performances. We delve too much into these performances. These guys are all match-winners. We are too critical of our players. It’s not nice and not fair to be doing that so often, putting unnecessary pressure on players.

“They become different characters itself towards the media when their credibility is so often questioned. I don’t think it’s a nice thing at all.”

K L Rahul

@klrahul

165862

6545

💔 https://t.co/9EqP7dxHZM

Being openers, Rahul and skipper Rohit Sharma were expected to play key roles in Team India’s T20 World Cup 2022 campaign. However, India suffered in the powerplay right through the competition since both of them failed to get going.

---

“You can’t say he is not performing for India in big matches” - Uthappa on Rahul

Urging the media to exercise restraint in their criticism, Uthappa backed Rahul, pointing out his impressive record in T20I wins. Dismissing claims that he is not a big match player, the former keeper-batter countered:

“If you look at KL Rahul’s record, I think you will see, in all of India’s T20 victories, he’s got the second or third highest number of fifties. You can’t say he is not performing for India in big matches. It’s based on those performances that you back a high-quality player.”

Having made his T20I debut in 2016, Rahul has scored 2265 in 72 matches at an average of 37.75 and a strike rate of 139.12.

​