“It was a top quality knock by KLR”: Aakash Chopra supports KL Rahul’s knock in 1st T20I against South Africa despite criticism from many

KL Rahul has been criticized a lot for his approach against South Africa in the Trivandrum T20I, but Aakash Chopra has come in his support.

India defeated South Africa in the 1st T20I at Trivandrum to go 1-0 ahead in the 3-match series. The pitch at the venue surprised everyone as it was a beauty for the pacers and none expected this kind of nature from the Trivandrum’s wicket.

India’s pace duo of Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh ripped apart the top-order of South Africa, and the Proteas were 9-5 after just 2.3 overs. In the end, South Africa managed to score just 106 runs at the end of 20 years. India also lost the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, and they were 17-2 after 6.2 overs.

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KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav then stitched an unbeaten partnership of 93 runs to take India home. Although, the knocks of both batters were differently paced. Suryakumar scored 50 runs at a strike-rate of 151.52, whereas Rahul scored 51 runs at 91.07. The approach of Rahul was again criticized after the match.

Aakash Chopra supports KL Rahul’s knock IND vs SA Trivandrum T20I

Former Indian batter and commentator Aakash Chopra has supported the innings of KL Rahul in the Trivandrum T20I. Rahul is getting a lot of criticism for his approach in the game, but Chopra has called it a top-quality knock by Rahul in respect of the match conditions.

Chopra insists that there was a reason why the South African team got out for 106 runs, and India also lost the wickets of their two key players in Rohit and Virat early. He said that Rahul chose to fight for it, and the criticism he is getting is unfair.

“The criticism of KL Rahul’s batting approach last night was seriously misplaced…there’s a reason why the opponents scored only 106 in 20 overs and your team was 2 down for not much. It was a top-quality knock by KLR, for he chose to fight it out. Well played,” Aakash Chopra tweeted.

The criticism of KL Rahul’s batting approach last night was seriously misplaced…there’s a reason why the opponents scored only 106 in 20 overs and your team was 2 down for not much. It was a top quality knock by KLR, for he chose to fight it out. Well played 👏👏 #IndvSA

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 29, 2022

The criticism about Rahul regarding his approach in T20 games has been clear this season, and the same happened during the Asia Cup as well. Rahul has scored 249 T20I runs in 2022 at 31.13, with the help of three half-centuries. However, the problem is with his strike-rate, which is just 119.14 this year.