Sourav Ganguly confident about KL Rahul: The BCCI-President expects the white-ball wicket-keeper batsman to contribute across formats.
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BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) President Sourav Ganguly wants India captain Virat Kohli to understand that his team will have to play well away from home. With India losing three out of their last four Test series in SENA countries, Ganguly expects them to put up a better show during the forthcoming India’s tour of Australia.
“He [Virat Kohli] must sit back and understand that he has to play better away from home. Yes, Australia was a good series that they he had won [in 2018-19] but they should have done better in South Africa, England [both 2018] and New Zealand [2020],” Ganguly was quoted as saying by India Today on their show titled ‘Inspiration’.
Ganguly further pointed out how the Indian batsmen put on display collective brilliance during the last tour of Australia which aided them in winning the series 2-1. Set to play against a full-strength Australian team, Ganguly hoped for the Indian batsmen to replicate their performance of the 2018-19 tour.
“They are a capable side and they must have learnt from that. Everyone has to bat well. We lost in England because no one got Test match hundreds apart from Virat Kohli and [Cheteshwar] Pujara.
“We won in Australia because Pujara got you 500 runs, Virat got a hundred and [Rishabh] Pant got a hundred. That’s how you are going to win the series. [Pat] Cummins, [Mitchell] Starc, [Josh] Hazlewood and [Nathan] Lyon are good bowlers. They need to fight hard and buckle down. This is a good side and everyone has to get together to beat Australia in Australia,” Ganguly said.
Sourav Ganguly confident about KL Rahul
While the likes of Kohli, Pujara and Pant had flourished in the batting department during the last Australian tour, opening batsman Lokesh Rahul was found wanting on his second Australian tour. In three Tests, Rahul had scored 57 runs at an average of 11.40 and a strike rate of 55.88.
Barring a Test century against England at The Oval, Rahul had struggled for runs in the format which eventually led to the selectors dropping him after the tour of West Indies last year.
Since his exclusion from the Test team, Rahul has cemented his white-ball spot not just as a batsman but a wicket-keeper batsman. In addition to his heroics at the highest level, Rahul has been belting runs at will in the Indian Premier League as well.
Despite a large chunk of Rahul’s runs coming in white-ball cricket, Ganguly expressed confidence in the 28-year old player having it in him to continue his run-spree in Test cricket as well.
“I have a lot of time for KL Rahul in Test matches and I am saying that as a cricketer. But, at the end of the day, it is the selector that decides who plays and who doesn’t play.
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“Just as somebody who has played the game, I feel he [Rahul] is someone, who will contribute in all forms of the game. I wish him all the luck. Hopefully, he contributes to the winning cause of India which is important,” Ganguly further added.
