"You can be dropped even if you're vice-captain" - Former Indian cricketer makes scathing remark on KL Rahul
Former Indian cricketer Maninder Singh believes that being named the vice-captain of the ODI team against Bangladesh doesn't give KL Rahul any guarantee of playing all the games unless he performs well.
Rahul's form of late has been under the scanner and Maninder recalled the way the stand-in Indian captain batted in the ODIs against Zimbabwe. He felt that the opener was a bit too conservative upfront and that affected the Men in Blue even in the T20 World Cup.
Speaking in a media interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network ahead of the ODI series, here's what Maninder Singh had to say about the Indian vice-captain:
"KL Rahul seems to have gone into a shell since the Zimbabwe series. He has to come out of it as we know what kind of a classy cricketer he is. You can't even use up 5-6 overs upfront in ODI cricket. He needs to take a fearless approach in T20 and ODI cricket. You can be dropped even if you're a vice-captain."
Powerplay batting strike-rates for Indians in ODIs since 2020 (min 100 balls)
KL Rahul: 63.7
Virat Kohli: 70.6
Shikhar Dhawan: 74.1
Shubman Gill: 90.3
Rohit Sharma: 94.3
Prithvi Shaw: 116.7
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Shubman Gill needs to play consistently for India across formats: Maninder Singh
Maninder Singh also spoke about Shubman Gill and how impressive the youngster has been for the Men in Blue across formats. He was surprised to see Gill's name missing from the ODI squad against Bangladesh and believes he should play regularly as that would only make him a better player.
Not the results we wanted but some great memories and learnings 🇮🇳❤️ https://t.co/PXQg7vNvQW
On this, the former cricketer stated:
"Shubman Gill looks like a different class of player from others. He needs to play consistently for India across formats as he has done well in Tests, ODIs and even in T20 cricket whenever he got a chance. You should open with him in white-ball cricket and have him at No.3-5 in the middle order in Tests. He has that fearless approach that is necessary going forward."
Squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen.